


Last Christmas

by Half



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hallmark Christmas Movie AU, it probably won't feel like that in the beginning but it'll get there i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-05 09:38:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16808065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Half/pseuds/Half
Summary: When the prodigal children of Purgatory return to town for a funeral, past tensions flow faster than eggnog. But with a terrible winter storm blowing in, trapping them all in town, the only way to survive the holiday season might be to rekindle the dying Christmas spirit.





	1. home for christmas

“This should only take a couple of days,” Nicole Haught says as she drives past the sign welcoming her to Purgatory. “I don’t plan on staying much longer than the ceremony.”

Her boss, on the other side of her phone, snorts. _“How many days is a couple? I want you back here, Haught.”_

Nicole grits her teeth. “I’m not sure, sir. I’ll update you as soon as possible. I haven’t gotten exact times for certain things.”

_“Haught. You had better.”_

“Uh-huh,” Nicole murmurs, ducking her head a bit to glance up at the darkening sky out her windshield.

_“Are you even listening to me?”_

“Sure am, boss.”

He snorts. _“Just get it done, Haught.”_

Her phone beeps with the ended call, and Nicole leans back in her seat. “He doesn’t get it, CJ,” she sighs, sticking her hand behind her to pat the dog harnessed into the backseat. She watches as snow starts to fall around her. “I wouldn’t be coming back here if I could avoid it.”

+++++

Homestead Inn is more worn than Nicole remembers. The paint has faded to a dull blue, one shutter is missing, and the gutter is falling off a portion of the roof. When Nicole parks and gets out of her Rav4, carrying her duffel bag and CJ’s leash, she walks up the sidewalk to the front door and heads inside.

The gray-haired woman behind the front desk, Gus McCready, looks up at her entrance, eyes narrowing immediately.

“I didn’t believe it when I saw your name on the registration.”

“Gus,” Nicole greets with a nod. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I-”

“Save it, girl. I don’t want any of that from you.” Gus leans on her desk, frowning. “Out of respect for your daddy and for how much my husband loved you when you were a child, I’m allowing you to stay here while we have this ceremony. But the moment it’s over, you’re gone, understand that?”

Nicole’s brow furrows. “I was planning on leaving quickly, Gus, but why-”

“Room five,” Gus interrupts, shoving a room key at her. “Top floor on the right. Floors are creaky, it gets drafty, and the water’s only ever lukewarm, but it’s a room.” She glances down at the dog. “If the dog gets cold, he can sleep in the welcome room down here, by the fireplace.”

“What if I get cold?” Nicole tries to joke.

“Buy a blanket.” Gus turns and walks away, leaving Nicole standing alone with the key.

+++++

_“We should be getting into town in about three hours, baby girl.”_

Waverly Earp glances at her watch, hurrying down the main street of Purgatory. “Okay. You should be here in time for dinner, if you want to go out? Maybe we can take Gus to Shorty’s and just… sit? For a bit? Spend some time and…”

_“Not think about it?”_

“… Yeah.”

_“That sounds like a good idea to me. See you soon. Love you, sis.”_

“Love you too,” Waverly whispers. She pockets her phone and clears her throat, wiping a tear off of her face.

There’s a soft bark, and a pressure hits against her hand. Waverly pauses her steps and looks down, seeing a large dog tied to a bike stand in front of the coffee shop.

“Hey there, buddy,” she greets as he wags his tail happily. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“Waverly?”

She freezes, the voice sinking deep into her brain. She turns slowly, to the door of the coffee shop, where Nicole is exiting with a cup.

“Nicole,” she breathes.

“H-Hey,” Nicole stammers, waving her empty hand lamely. “Uh. How. Have you been?”

Anger surges through her, and before she even realizes it, Waverly pulls her hand back and slaps Nicole across the face.

“How have I _been_? That’s _all_ you’re going to say to me after all this time? What are you even _doing_ here?”

Nicole rubs her cheek, looking baffled. “I’m home for Curtis’s funeral.”

Waverly’s shoulders slump, and the tears well back up in her eyes. She rushes forward, wrapping her arms around Nicole’s waist and burying her face in Nicole’s thick wool pea coat.

“Are you okay, Waves?”

She takes a moment, settled in Nicole’s warm grip. Then she pushes away roughly. “I’m _fine_ , Nicole.” She storms off, shouting over her shoulder, “I don’t need your help!”

+++++

Nicole stays in the center of town with her dog for hours, exploring and reacquainting with the few changes that have been made. She buys herself a sandwich for dinner and heads back to the bed and breakfast, CJ padding alongside her.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she scolds softly as the dog tilts his head towards her. “It’s not my fault everybody’s angry with me.” She pauses and shrugs. “Maybe it is. Maybe things should’ve been done better. Don’t judge me.”

She stops when she sees an unfamiliar SUV pull into the inn parking lot in front of her. She makes eye contact with the driver as she stands on the sidewalk, and she sighs, setting down her bag of food and CJ’s leash. “Stay, boy,” she mutters. “I have a feeling this one isn’t going to be great, either.”

Wynonna Earp bursts out of the SUV like a bat out of hell, almost slipping on ice but recovering smoothly enough to run up to Nicole and tackle her to the ground. “What the _hell_ are _you_ doing here?”

“Is it really that hard for you people to believe I’d come back for Curtis?”

“You’re a lying, no-good, traitorous thief who broke my sist- who _betrayed us_ , so yeah, it is.”

Nicole frowns. “Wait, what?”

 _“Wynonna!”_ Gus stands on the front step, her hands on her waist. “That’s enough. Come inside, now.”

“You’re letting her stay here?” Wynonna demands, getting back to her feet and leaving Nicole on the ground. “We’re not staying with _her_.”

“I might not be happy about it, but it’s what Curtis would want. And you’ll stay here, because it’s where you belong. Now _get_.”

Muttering under her breath, Wynonna stalks back to her car to unload.

Gus walks over to Nicole and looks down at her. “Tell me, Haught, is the big city money worth all of this?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Yeah,” Gus sighs. “You never much did.”

Nicole pushes herself off of the ground. “Look, can we all just go to the Hot Chocolate Derby tonight and talk? I think you all got the wrong impression on some things.”

“We didn’t get the _wrong impression_ , Haught, you stabbed us in the back,” Wynonna says, leading a little girl out of her SUV and towards the inn.

Nicole does a double-take, blinking down at the girl. “Who’s this?” she asks softly, distracted from the venom in Wynonna’s voice.

The child smiles up at her and waves shyly. “Hi. M’name’s Alice Michelle Earp.”

“Hi. I’m Nicole.”

“You don’t need to know her, Alice,” Wynonna says, pulling Alice past Nicole and Gus and towards the door. “She’ll be gone once we say goodbye to Uncle Curtis.”

“When did she have a daughter?” Nicole asks once Wynonna and Alice have disappeared inside.

“Alice is four. You’d know that if you kept in touch.”

Nicole sighs. “Gus, I’m sorry, but I-”

“And there isn’t a Hot Chocolate Derby tonight.”

“What? But the town always has it two weeks before Christmas.”

Gus shakes her head. “None of the Christmas events are happening this year. They’re never happening again.”

Nicole’s brow furrows. “But they’re important to you. They were important to… oh.”

“Without Curtis, there’s no point to it,” Gus whispers. “He _was_ the Christmas spirit in this town.”

“Yes,” Nicole agrees quietly. “He was.”

Gus swallows. “So now? This is the last Christmas in Purgatory.”


	2. know what i know

Nicole knocks firmly on the front door and raises her hands protectively in front of her.

“Huh. You’re not the pizza guy.”

“Sorry, no.”

Chrissy Nedley tilts her head to one side, squinting at her. “Why do you have your hands up like that?”

“It’s a precaution. My first few hours back in Purgatory haven’t exactly been welcoming ones.” Nicole lowers her hands slightly, looking at Chrissy through narrowed eyes. “I wasn’t sure if you were planning on slapping me or something.”

Chrissy folds her arms across her chest. “Which Earp?”

“Waverly slapped me; Wynonna tackled me. She probably would’ve punched me, but Gus told her off. Not that she was thrilled, either.”

“Not sure I blame them.” Chrissy reaches out, grabbed a fistful of Nicole’s jacket and tugging her forward, giving her a rough hug. “I’m mad at you, too, but I _am_ still glad to see you.”

“Chris, are you going to spend all day out here? I want to eat sometime to- Nicole.”

Nicole looks over Chrissy’s shoulder and swallows as she makes eye contact with Randy Nedley. “Hi,” she murmurs.

He crosses her arms and frowns. “So. You showed up for the funeral.”

Chrissy pulls out of the hug and gently pushes Nicole into the house towards him. “Yes, sir,” Nicole says. “It wouldn’t have been proper not to.”

“You’re damn right it wouldn’t have. That man deserves to be laid to rest by _all_ of you troublemakers, after all he did to keep you in line.” He snorts. “Some maybe more than others.”

Nicole flinches and looks at the floor. “Yes, sir.”

“Chrissy, could you take a step outside for a moment? Delivery’s pulling up. You can go pay them.”

“Sure,” Chrissy says, pausing only a second longer before heading outside.

Nedley walks over to Nicole and sets a gentle hand on her cheek. “You’ve turned out just fine, kiddo. You’re sure you don’t want to just tell them what’s really going on? Curtis is…” He clears he throat. “Without Curtis around, surely the debt’s gone, too?”

Nicole shakes her head and rubs at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Can’t risk it. And I can’t make this about me.”

Nedley squeezes her into a big bear hug, kissing the top of her head. “Just remember that you’re here to grieve too, Nic. Do you need a place to stay? I still have your room upstairs. I’m sure you can sleep on the treadmill.”

“The day you bring a treadmill into this house is the day Purgatory gets a tropical climate.” Nicole snorts and playfully shoves him away. “I have a room at the bed and breakfast.”

“Oh?”

She can see the anxiety on his face, and she shrugs. “I didn’t want to assume, and Gus didn’t throw me out when I got there. It’ll be fine, Dad, I swear.”

“You wouldn’t be _assuming_ , kid. You always have a place here. Got that?” He pats her shoulder. “Now, want any pizza? I know your sister’s hiding out there waiting for us to finish with our mumbling.”

“I already ate, but I can still stay if that’s okay?”

Nedley grins. “Absolutely.”

+++++

“Do you go everywhere in that suit?” Chrissy asks, handing Nicole a glass of wine and sitting across from her in front of the fireplace.

Nicole runs a self-conscious hand down her tie and the buttons of her wool waistcoat. “I wear them all the time. Why?”

“You look like a lawyer. And a nerd. You used to dress like you live here.”

“I don’t live here anymore, though,” Nicole says softly.

“Yeah.” Chrissy points at the ceiling. “Before he went to bed, Dad emphasized that I should give you a break. I’m more than willing to do that. But I still have to ask why you’re doing this to yourself, Nicole. Why you’re intentionally staying at the inn.”

“Honestly, Chrissy, I expected tension, but I don’t really get why Waverly and Wynonna hate me so much. We fell out of touch. It happens.”

“Dude, I love you, but I’m pretty sure Waverly’s still a little upset about…” Chrissy trails off, shaking her head, and takes a sip of her wine.

“Hold on. Upset about what?”

Chrissy winces, looking guilty. “She’s my best friend, Nic.”

“I know that. And I wouldn’t try to guilt you by trying to play the sister card. But I don’t want days that should be dedicated to Curtis to be ruined by a fight that I don’t even understand.”

There’s a moment of quiet, as Chrissy watches the flames curl in the fireplace. “You were her first love, Nicole. You promised her that you’d come home and take her prom and give her a solidly good memory to have after all of the misery she had growing up and dealing with the jerks in our school. And you didn’t. You abandoned her when she needed you the most, and I don’t think she’s ever really gotten over that.”

Nicole’s brow furrows. “But… she told me…” She stands up, picking her coat up from the back of her chair. “I apologize, Chrissy, but I have to leave.”

“Nic, don’t do something stupid.”

“That’s apparently what I’m known for around here, so why not give it a shot?” Nicole grins and winks at Chrissy, then heads for the door.

+++++

Waverly opens her door on the fifth incessant knock. She narrows her eyes when she sees Nicole standing in her doorway, leaning on the frame with one hand. “What do you want? You aren’t forgiven just because I cried on you for ten seconds.”

“I want to know why you lied to my sister,” Nicole says, her voice soft.

“Excuse me?”

Nicole pushes into Waverly’s room, carding a hand through her hair. “Chrissy thinks I abandoned you. That I ditched you instead of taking you to prom.”

Waverly crosses her arms. “Yeah, and? That’s what you _did_ , Nicole.”

“I’m sorry, Wave, but I’m confused. I got an email from you, telling me that you didn’t want me to come. When I tried to call you, you wouldn’t answer. So I don’t really understand why I should take the blame for not being interested in showing up anyway just to get my heart crushed.”

Waverly steps back, holding her hands in front of her. “First you disappear to some city job instead of coming home, now you make up an excuse for the biggest heartbreak of my life? Two days after the death of the man who raised me? That’s _cold_ , Nicole.”

She feels panic bubbling in her, only made worse by the obvious confusion on Nicole’s face. “Wave, I still _have_ the email. If you’re that interested in denying it, I can pull it up on my laptop.”

“I don’t really care what you do. You’ve already proven that you have no interest in the people who care about you, so it really makes no difference why you didn’t take me to prom like four years ago. Got it?”

“It clearly matters to you,” Nicole murmurs.

“Yeah, well, I loved you, Nicole.”

“You never told me.”

Waverly scoffs. “Would it have made a difference?”

She watches the spark of pain and guilt in Nicole’s eyes, but before Nicole can respond, Wynonna pushes her way into Waverly’s room.

“Hey, baby girl, I…” Wynonna trails off, narrowing her eyes. “Is everything okay here?”

“We’re fine, Wynonna,” Waverly says sharply. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a storm coming in,” Wynonna continues, a breathless edge to her voice. “Bad one. They’re already closing some of the roads into town.”

Nicole shoves her hands into her pockets. “What does that mean?”

“Well, for one, we can’t have the funeral yet, because the ground’s already too frozen to even consider a burial.” Wynonna gives Nicole a grim smirk. “And for another, Haughtshot, it means we’re all probably going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future.”

Waverly closes her eyes briefly, feeling Nicole’s automatic glance towards her. “Great,” she whispers. “Merry Christmas to me.”


	3. the ones i used to know

“What do you mean we’re stuck here, Earp?” Nicole asks, joining Wynonna, Waverly, and Gus in the welcome room of the bed and breakfast after retrieving CJ from her room.

“The snow falling out there is just a preview of what’s headed our way. If this wasn’t Purgatory, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but there’s only like one road to get here, and the closest town to us down that road is already getting hit bad.”

Gus shakes her head slowly. “That’s the last thing we all need right now. I just want to get this whole thing over and done with.” Her voice quivers. “Can’t I just let my husband _rest_?”

Waverly puts her arm around Gus’s shoulders. “I just called Jeremy. He said that we can have the viewing tomorrow morning before the worst of the storm rolls in, then Uncle Curtis will be perfectly safe with him until the weather’s better.”

Nicole watches as CJ hops up onto the couch and curls up next to a sleeping Alice, resting his muzzle softly on her hip. “Who’s the sheriff now that…” She glances at Gus. “… Now.”

“I didn’t realize you were _stupid_ to go with your selfish, Haught,” Wynonna snarks, sitting next to Alice and gently carding her fingers through the little girl’s hair. “Who do you _think_?”

Nicole blinks. “Wait. My dad?”

“ _Duh._ He’s the only person around here qualified.” Wynonna snorts. “It’s not like you bothered to become a cop. Security consultants don’t get to become sheriff.”

“If you’re done taking potshots at me, Wynonna? I was going to ask whether anybody told him that we were going to end up with some serious issues. The town needs to be prepared. Somebody needs to warn the ranches so they make sure they have all their animals in, the residents who need daily medication need to be checked on to ensure they have what they’ll need in case they’re stuck for a few days, we need to see how much we have in terms of supplies since we’re obviously not going to be getting deliveries any time soon.”

“Great, you care about the town now, congratulations, Haught. Why don’t _we_ worry about all of that? You can go count your millions in your room.”

Nicole lets out a dry laugh. “Is this how it’s going to be the _whole_ time? Because I think I might take my chances driving directly into a blizzard if that’s the case.”

Wynonna’s eyes flash. “Please do. Save me the trouble of killing you myself.”

_“Enough,”_ Gus growls, glaring between the two of them. “I have no interest in listening to this. What Nicole’s saying does have some merit. Wynonna, go wake the sheriff and fill him in on what’s going on. Waverly, wake Jeremy back up. Have him inventory the medical supplies and make a list of people he can call in the morning to check on whether they’re stocked on their medication. Then go get Dolls up. He’ll be able to look into town preparation and an inventory of non-medical supplies.”

“What do you want me to do?” Nicole asks softly. “Let me _help_ , Gus. I’m here; use it to your advantage.”

Gus meets her gaze and nods slowly. “Closest ranch is Gunslinger. You remember? Doc runs it now. Go stir him up, and he can help get word to the others.”

“I know where it is.”

“I’ll stay here with Alice.”

“I’ll leave CJ with you.” Nicole shrugs. “He’s a very warm blanket if the occasion calls for it.” She gives Wynonna a steady look before glancing down the spot where CJ is resting comfortably on Alice.

Wynonna gives a slow, careful nod. “Okay. If you’re going to actually bother to do something for us for once, get going, Haught.” She picks up her jacket, presses a light kiss to Alice’s head, and leaves.

Waverly and Nicole walk out the door at the same time, Nicole pulling her coat tight around her. “Be careful,” she says, her voice quiet. “If this storm is blowing in this quickly, so fast that nobody even predicted how bad it would be, there’s no telling when things might change. Don’t take a risk you can’t back out from.”

“You don’t need to baby me, Nicole,” Waverly growls.

“Waverly,” Nicole murmurs.

They stare at each other for a long moment, before Waverly looks away, swallowing. “Okay. I’ll be careful. You had better do the same, Haught.”

“Why?” Nicole snorts out a laugh. “You that eager to get back to the awkward conversation we were in before Wynonna interrupted?”

Waverly groans quietly and shoves at Nicole’s shoulder before heading for her car. “If you never talk about that again, it’ll be too soon.”

Nicole takes her keys out of her pocket and heads towards her SUV. “Have to talk about it sometime,” she says under her breath.

+++++

John Henry ‘Doc’ Holliday leads her into the kitchen of his ranch house before he allows her to start explaining, shoving a mug of coffee into her hands.

“It is midnight, Nicole, can we at least have caffeine when you show up out of nowhere after I have not seen you in years?” he says in response to her questioning look.

“I suppose that’s fair.”

“What does bring you to my ranch at such a late hour? Do you need a place to hide?”

“You’re hilarious.” Nicole takes a sip of her coffee. “I’m here to tell you that there’s a real bad storm heading in. Full on close-the-town blizzard-type. All the ranches need to make sure they have their animals secured and any other prep is done. Nobody really knows exactly when it’ll hit us.”

Doc nods. “I will wake my men and have them start immediately; they can get the sleep they miss back as soon as we are secure. Have you notified any of the other ranches yet?”

“No; I was hoping you could help with that?”

“Sure. One of my hands is a bit young to help with a task this serious. I will send him off to notify the other ranches, on strict instructions to head back if the weather gets too dangerous, and then send him home. I am sure he will want to make sure his parents are safe.”

“Good. Thank you.” Nicole cards her fingers through her hair. “Alright. That takes care of the ranches. Waverly’s checking on town inventory. Wynonna’s dealing with my dad. That should-”

“Wynonna is here?” Doc interrupts, almost dropping his coffee mug.

“Yes. Curtis’s viewing is tomorrow. Why?”

“Is… Did she bring Alice with her?”

Nicole pauses. “Yes.” She watches as Doc slumps a bit against the counter, setting his mug down. “Doc… is… Alice, I mean. Is she…”

“She is my daughter, yes,” Doc says quietly.

“But she doesn’t have your name?”

“The relationship I have with Wynonna is… _complicated_. We did not want the same things. So I…” He shrugs. “I let her do whatever she chose. I have met Alice. I get pictures of her frequently. But she is not… part of my life.”

Nicole sets her mug down and rubs the back of her neck. “God. I missed so much around here.”

“Mm. And I would imagine that plenty of it is being thrown back in your face now that you are here.”

“More than you might even believe. I think I have at least an idea of what’s bothering Waverly, but some of the stuff Wynonna’s said to me isn’t matching up with what I _thought_ I did to upset her. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re talking so nicely to me.”

“I always liked you independently of my relationship with Wynonna. I think it gave me another perspective. And aside from that, you were always one of the good ones, Nicole Haught. I would find it awfully hard to believe some of the things I have been told.”

“It seems like a lot of people were told a lot of things without me realizing it,” Nicole mutters. “I haven’t had the guts to ask Wynonna or Waverly when Willa will be getting here. With the way things have been going, she’ll probably think I’m the one who reported her for cheating in seventh grade and she’ll shoot me.”

Doc stares at her before grabbing his coffee and downing the rest of it.

“What?”

“I think I should go wake my men before I waste too much time,” Doc mumbles, reaching for a coat hanging on a hook by the back door.

“Wait a minute. Doc. What is going on?”

He hesitates, pulling his hat on low so it shades his eyes. “The way you said that. You make it sound like you do not know where Willa has been living.”

“How should I? I assumed she was still in Purgatory, but I guess not if I haven’t seen her yet.”

“Nicole. I think after we have battened the hatches and said goodbye to Curtis, you need to sit down with Wynonna and Waverly and have a long talk with them.”

“Why? What’s Willa got to do with this?”

Doc gives a small laugh as he pulls on gloves. “Oh. I believe she has a _great deal_ to do with this.”


	4. won't be the same dear

“You’re going to pace a hole into my carpet.”

Waverly winces and stops, shooting an apologetic glance at Xavier Dolls as he stares at the screen of his laptop. “Sorry. I’m just anxious.”

“This have anything to do with Nicole?”

“You knew she was here?”

Dolls shrugs. “I know a lot, Earp. If she’s causing you trouble, I can talk to her.”

“No, don’t do that. I can handle Nicole Haught, believe me. She’s just being a brand of difficult I didn’t expect her to sink to.”

“Do I want to know?”

Waverly shrugs. “She claims that I sent her an email saying I didn’t want to see her, back when she was away at college and I was getting ready to graduate from Purgatory High. That _that’s_ why she didn’t come back for me, which really just sums up as her not being at fault. And not only does that _completely_ ignore what she did to Willa and to Wynonna and to Gus and Curtis, I can’t believe that she’d accuse me of blowing her off like that and then pinning the fault all on her just to save face.”

Dolls blows out a slow breath, still focused on his computer. “I should’ve gone by my first instinct. I didn’t want to know.”

She drops down into the chair across from his desk, frowning. “Thanks.”

“I like to keep appraised of what the town has, for just this sort of emergency. I have a database of all inventories of major elements that I can access as needed. It won’t be _one hundred percent_ accurate down to the decimals, but I can get a good average. Looks like we’re fully stocked on the winter supplies like salt, and all of the shops in town have reported pretty good inventories on things like food, clothes, gas, and oil. We might need to conserve a bit depending on what we’re in for, but depending on how Jeremy’s numbers run, we should be pretty well situated.”

Waverly smirks. “I knew there was a reason I voted for you for mayor.”

He snorts and takes a sip of coffee. “Who else were you going to go for? Bunny Loblaw?”

“Oh, god no. She’s hated me ever since she found out I liked women. Remember when she tried to get me fired when the school hired me?”

“Yep. Did you know that Shorty and Nedley both joined the school board the moment they found out you were interested in becoming a teacher, so that no matter how hard she pushed she wouldn’t be able to get the support to get rid of you if it came to that?”

Waverly’s jaw drops. “They did?”

“Mhm. Shorty spilled that to me when I was at the bar one night. Swore me to secrecy.”

“And yet…?”

“ _And yet_ , I think it’s important that you know that sometimes you don’t know that full story. That doesn’t mean the full version is _worse_. It’s just _different_.”

Waverly’s eyes narrow. “Why do I get a feeling that there’s another element of this that you aren’t telling me?”

Dolls drums his fingers on the table. “If I remember correctly, through the haze of drinking with Wynonna and Doc when we were home that summer, things with you and Nicole imploded around May of your senior year, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Nicole called her father, and she’s the one who told him that you wanted to become a teacher in Purgatory. In _July_ of that year. So for me, unless it’s some sort of weird guilt, that just doesn’t sound like somebody who would ditch you without a word.”

Waverly leans back in her chair slowly and doesn’t respond.

Dolls waves a hand and looks back at his screen. “Look, it’s none of my business. But is there a way you can prove or disprove what Nicole’s saying?”

“She said she has the email I sent. It’s been bothering me ever since.”

“She still has it? Did you see it?”

“No. We kind of got interrupted by this mess, but I don’t know…” Waverly sighs and rubs at her temples. “Oh, fudgenuggets. What am I supposed to do if it’s true?”

“I think you’re the only one who can answer that, Waverly.”

+++++

Nicole walks into the inn followed by a gust of wind. She closes the door roughly, locking it behind her and heading into the welcome room as she rubs her hands together. “The wind is already getting bad out there,” she says, her voice hoarse. “We’ll have to be careful tomorrow. Take what time everyone needs, but be safe.”

“Yeah, we got it, _Haught_ ,” Wynonna snaps, seated on the couch with Alice asleep on her lap. “You’re not the sheriff and you’re not my mom.”

Nicole rolls her eyes. “What did my dad say?”

“He’s going to get his officers into a rotation, checking on houses to make sure everyone has working heat and stocked firewood, watching out for trees and ice, being active on the road in case anybody needs them. Everybody on call, but not everybody actually out at once so that the whole department isn’t getting tired at the same time.”

“Makes sense. Doc’s getting his place locked up, and he has word going out to the other ranches.”

Waverly, leaning against the fireplace with Gus, nods. “Jeremy’s getting everything together on his end, and Dolls is prepped, too.”

“If we’ve done our civic duty, then, I think it’s about time we all go to bed,” Gus says. “We won’t get much sleep as it is, and I want to get up early to gather more firewood just in case the storm rolls in while we’re at the… while we’re with Curtis.”

“Don’t worry about it. I can go get some together now; I don’t really need the sleep,” Nicole offers.

Wynonna snorts. “You’re being awfully helpful for someone who has never given a shit about this town.”

Nicole lets out a low, sharp laugh. “Oh, you are really starting to push it, Earp.”

“Stop it,” Gus murmurs.

“No, I want Nicole to admit it,” Wynonna growls, glaring full swords at Nicole.

“Admit _what?_ ”

“You never even _wanted_ to be in this town, did you, Haught? That’s why it was so easy for you to take everything from us, to leave us all behind for your fancy office and your penthouse apartment, to break my sister’s heart like it meant nothing to you.”

_“Wynonna,”_ Waverly hisses.

_“No,”_ Wynonna spits, only lowering her voice when Alice briefly stirs. “If I’m going to have to spend days, maybe even a week, maybe even more, looking at Nicole fucking Haught’s arrogant fucking face, I want her to at least be woman enough to look me in the eyes and admit that she _never_ wanted to be here.”

CJ, resting against Nicole’s leg, whines and pushes his nose against her hand, sensing the tension and anger as Nicole’s teeth clench.

“Fine,” Nicole says, her voice quiet and tightly controlled. “Fine, Wynonna. There was always a part of me that didn’t want to be in Purgatory.”

Her pause is short, but long enough for Gus’s eyebrows to raise, for Waverly’s small flinch of hurt, for Wynonna’s dismissive snort.

“I would _think_ ,” Nicole continues slowly, the anger seeping in, “that you of all people would at least understand _why_.”

“Does a why really matter?” Wynonna asks bluntly.

Nicole laughs, a sound so sharp and devoid of humor that Wynonna actually shrinks back in her seat a bit, startled. “Of _course_ a part of me never wanted to be here, Wynonna. The size of that part fluctuated depending on how happy I was at any given time, sure. But asking me not to want that is asking me to never- not _once_ -wish that my parents didn’t die right in front of me, Wynonna. Or do you hate me so much now that you’ve already forgotten?”

The fight visibly drains out of Wynonna, replaced with a guilt, but Nicole is already headed for the back door, pulling her jacket on.

“Nicole, hold on a minute,” Gus says, walking towards her.

“I really just want to be alone for a while,” Nicole mumbles. “The firewood will be ready to go before we leave in the morning.”

The door slams behind her, and Waverly glares at Wynonna. “Classy. Real helpful in this trying time.”

“Don’t act so high and mighty, baby girl, you’re pissed off at her too. We all are.”

“Yeah. But now that she’s _here_ , it’s getting really hard for me to act like we played no part in any of it.” Waverly picks up her jacket, pulls on her gloves, and slips out the door after Nicole.

“Please don’t start on me too.”

“I wasn’t going to.” Gus sits down next to Wynonna, resting a hand on her knee. “Not in so many words, anyway.”

Wynonna groans and lays her head back on the couch. “Look, I crossed the line and I know that. I’m going to apologize to her tomorrow, okay?”

“I’m not looking for you to make an apology. I’m looking for you to ask yourself a question.”

“Which is?”

“Are you sure you’re mad at _Nicole_ for leaving, or are you actually mad at _yourself_?”


	5. let nothing you dismay

Waverly walks through the light covering of snow on the ground, her boots making soft crunching noises through the icy top layer. She finds Nicole easily, at the woodpile, taking her anger out on the logs.

_Thwack!_

She flinches at the strike of the axe, loud and harsh, almost _too_ loud, as if Nicole has thrown far too much weight into the swing for the amount of effort actually required.

“Nicole,” Waverly says softly. “Come back inside.”

“I’m fine. This needs to get done.”

“It’s freezing and you aren’t wearing gloves. We should have enough, it just needs to be chopped, and we can do that later when we’ve all gotten some sleep.”

Nicole’s snort is so short and breathy that its presence is signaled primarily through the breath that ghosts up from her lips. “I said I’m fine. You should go back inside. I want to be alone.”

“Well, Nicole, that’s tough. If you wanted to be alone, you should’ve stayed gone.”

Nicole slams the axe down even harder, so hard Waverly takes a step back and the blade embeds itself in the log that’s used as a platform. She turns towards Waverly, eyes wild, her short hair ruffled in the wind.

“What do you want from me, Waverly?”

“I…” Waverly blinks. “I want you to come inside.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you damn well know it. All of you, _all of you_ , hate me. Now, I know that you weren’t happy when I went to work for Black Badge Security, but that was _my choice_. You can call me a sellout if you want, but I _got a job_. That’s all! I _moved_.”

“To work for _Black. Badge. Security._ ”

“Yeah, Wave, I know. The big bad wolf. But it’s a good job, okay?”

Waverly laughs sharply. “You went to work for the company that killed my father, stole my family land, and blackmailed my sister. Yeah, Nicole. It’s a _great_ job.”

She watches as the anger on Nicole’s face slips. “What are you talking about?”

There’s a silence, a long moment as the wind howls between them. “What?” Waverly whispers.

“Look, Waves, I know your dad died on duty for Black Badge, but I really don’t have any idea what you’re talking about otherwise.”

Waverly swallows. “Please come inside, Nicole.”

“But-”

_“Please.”_

Nicole pauses for only a moment, then nods slowly and follows Waverly back to the inn.

+++++

They sit across from each other on Nicole’s bedroom floor, surrounded by blankets, CJ dozing on the bed, the only light in the room a small candle lantern sitting next to them and the screen of Nicole’s laptop.

“I like those pajamas on you,” Waverly says, a bit awkwardly, tugging at the flannel fabric at Nicole’s knee.

“Thanks. Chrissy sent them to me for Christmas last year.” Nicole drums her fingers along the sides of her computer. “You’re sure you want to see this?”

“Yes.”

Nicole takes in a breath and hands her laptop over to Waverly.

There, in black and white, direct from Waverly’s email address, is a full letter telling Nicole that Waverly never wants to see her again.

“This is… _cruel_ ,” Waverly whispers. “Mean. You really believed I wrote this?”

“Not at first,” Nicole admits. “I thought about it. For a while.” She gives a dry laugh. “Got a little drunk about it, actually. And then I called you. Several times. You never answered. I-I… I called Wynonna, too. And Willa. They didn’t answer either. So I… I figured you…” Nicole shrugs and looks away.

“You figured I really did want you gone,” Waverly finishes.

“You… You really didn’t?”

Waverly closes the laptop and sets it aside. “No, Nicole. I wanted _nothing more_ than for you to come home. I did not write that email. I swear it.”

“Then who _did_? Because it _was_ from your account, wasn’t it? I checked over and over again; for a while there I was convinced it was Champ or Stephanie playing some sick joke on me with a fake email address.”

“It was my account, yeah. Uh… At that time… my computer was _reasonably_ secure. My password uh…” Waverly blushes. “It wasn’t… difficult… if you really knew me very well. But the only people who probably would’ve been regularly in the house were Gus, Curtis, Wynonna, and… Willa.”

“Willa,” Nicole murmurs. “Doc mentioned her. He said I should ask you and Wynonna about her? Did something happen to her? Or… wait, is she the sister you said was blackmailed?”

“That’s part of what we thought you knew. Willa went to work for Black Badge. She said she was working with you. She said she was being forced to, because the Earp land and this inn would end up being owned by Black Badge otherwise? Some deal my father made, or something, that she was being forced to fulfill.”

Nicole’s jaw tenses. “I know nothing about that. I wish I had.”

Waverly reaches up, wiping a tear from under her eye. “Yeah. I wish a lot of things. And if she’s the one who drove a wedge between us, I really wish I knew why. _How._ Was she screening my calls? I mean, honestly.”

“Can I see your phone?”

Waverly digs her cellphone out of the pocket of her baggy sleep sweatshirt and hands it over, pausing only to unlock it. Nicole skims through it for a few minutes, before lowering her head and laughing.

“What?” Waverly shoves at Nicole’s shoulder. _“What?”_

“Occam’s razor.”

“Huh?”

Nicole meets her gaze. “That jackass blocked my number from your phone.”

“What…” Waverly grabs her phone back, staring at the list of blocked numbers on her screen. “I always block those junk telemarketer numbers when they come in.”

“Yeah, so you never noticed. The ass probably got any new numbers I ever had through work, and any time you got a new phone she’d drop in and block them for you. Probably for Wynonna, too. I literally _couldn’t_ call you.”

Waverly puts her phone away and stares at the ground, sniffing.

Nicole hesitantly rests her hands on Waverly’s knees. “Hey… Wave… Are you okay?” She adds a gentle teasing edge for her voice as she adds, “I kinda figured you’d be furious.”

“Ohhhhhh, I _am_ ,” Waverly says shakily. “I am. But I also can’t help but feel like this just got so messed up so quickly. I could’ve… _We_ could’ve…”

“Hey,” Nicole murmurs. “I know.”

Waverly looks up, tears streaming down her face, and leans forward. Nicole’s breath catches in her throat as she freezes, but before Waverly’s lips land on hers, Nicole’s hand comes up. She rests her palm on Waverly’s cheek gently, threading her fingers in her hair, and holds her back.

“Wave,” Nicole whispers. “Neither of us is in a place for that. We need to talk a lot more.”

“I know,” Waverly mumbles. “I know. I just… God, I’ve missed you.”

Nicole leans up and presses her lips to Waverly’s forehead. “I missed you, too, Waverly.”

Waverly pulls back, flushed pink with embarrassment, and stands up. “Alright. Well. I should probably go to bed now, before I do something else stupid.”

Nicole catches her hand before she can walk past. “Not stupid,” she says, reassuring. “Just not yet.”

They stare at each other for a moment, Nicole’s thumb brushing over Waverly’s knuckles, then Waverly heads for the door.

“One more thing.”

“Yes?”

“That password. I don’t think I knew it?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t have told it to you if my life depended on it, and you were too dumb to figure it out yourself.”

“Why? What was it?”

Waverly’s blush deepens. “Nicole.”

Nicole grins. “Waverly.”

“No.”

“What was it?”

“It was…” Waverly shifts her weight between her feet and swallows. “It was mrswav3rlyhaught, okay? With a three instead of the ‘e’ in my name.”

Nicole’s eyebrows raise. “Wow. You really had it bad, Earp.”

“This is going to be the longest snowstorm of my life,” Waverly sighs as she walks out, shutting the door behind her.

Nicole waits until she’s been gone for several minutes before taking her phone out of her pocket and standing, walking over to stare out the window.

_“Haught? It’s three in the damn morning, what is wrong with you?”_

“I just wanted to let you know that there’s a complication,” Nicole says, her voice low and even.

_“What kind of complication?”_

“Weather. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get out of town. There’s a bad snowstorm heading in.”

_“You’ll survive. I want you back here.”_

Nicole snorts out a laugh. “Why? So you can keep using me?”

_“Excuse me?”_

“Willa,” Nicole growls. “She’s been working for you the whole time, hasn’t she? What, you separate me from Waverly so I have no future to look forward to, you dangle the opportunity to save some people I love right in front of me, and then you get to use me as your little minion, while the whole time you already had Willa in your pocket willingly?”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. _“You listen to me, girl. I can revoke our deal at any time. That happens, and you have no job, no pension, no home, no insurance, no nothing. I take away all of that nice Earp land, and that fancy little inn, and even that other nice little place you’ve got.”_

“How-”

“ _Yeah, I know about the other place. I know everything about you, remember? So unless you suddenly have a way to get out of the mess you’ve gotten yourself in, you’re going to keep your stupid little mouth shut. Understand?”_

“I…”

_“Do you understand me? Or do I need to make things difficult?”_

Nicole grits her teeth. “I understand.”

_“You had better. Now, in the spirit of the holidays, I’m willing to allow you an extra few days to make up for the storm. But not one moment longer, Haught. Or I swear, you’ll be spending your next Christmas in a box.”_

“Merry Christmas to you, too, Del Ray,” Nicole replies, voice heavy with sarcasm.

The line goes dead without response, and Nicole tosses her phone at a pile of clothes across the room. CJ lifts his head, concerned, and Nicole pats him soothingly.

“It’s okay, buddy. Everything’ll be fine.”

She lies down on top of the bed, staring at the ceiling, ignoring the cold draft. CJ shifts closer and rests his head on her stomach, whining softly. Nicole scratches him behind the ears, covers her eyes with her other hand, and starts to cry.


	6. raise a glass

Despite the looming storm, almost the whole town comes for Curtis’s viewing.

Wynonna and Waverly flank Gus, pressing close to her for support, accepting condolences alongside her. Alice stands in front of her mother, leaning against her knees, watching everything around her with wide, unsure eyes.

During a brief lull, while Gus talks with one of the dispatchers from the sheriff department, Wynonna leans over to Waverly and murmurs, “Haught’s looking like she thinks she’s a bouncer.”

Waverly’s eyes find Nicole on the other side of the room, standing against the wall in a black three-piece suit, her hands folded neatly in front of her. “She’s just here to support us however she can,” she whispers. “It’s alright.”

Wynonna’s eyes narrow. “Your tune seems to have changed.”

“My knowledge has changed. It’s not something I can explain right now, but please believe me when I say that we can trust her.”

“I can’t vent frustrations by beating her up, then?”

A smirk flickers across Waverly’s face. “No. Well, unless you ask her for permission to duel her or something.”

“There’s an idea.”

Waverly rolls her eyes. “Oh, boy.”

They hear the soft sound of a throat clearing, and turn to find Doc standing in front of them. “I apologize for interrupting,” he says quietly. “I merely wanted to tell you both how sorry I am. Curtis was a great man. He did a lot for all of us.”

“Thank you, Doc.” Waverly leans up, hugging him tightly.

“Yes. Thanks. John Henry,” Wynonna says, terse and hesitant. She tightens her grip on Alice’s shoulders.

Doc smiles down at the little girl. “Hi there. You are being very good for you mother, you know that?”

Alice blinks up at him and nods, putting her necklace into her mouth and chewing on it. “Mama said I c’n get a donut for breakfast.”

“I think that would be an excellent breakfast.”

Wynonna bites her lip as she watches them. She glances at Waverly, who nods, and she sighs. “Henry?”

“Yes?”

“Do you… Do you think you’d be able to take Alice to get that donut?”

Doc’s eyes light up, but he keeps his voice calm. “I could do that if you would like me to.”

“I think she needs to get out of here for a while. So. I would appreciate it.”

Doc nods and crouches down in front of Alice. “What do you think? Would you like to come with me for breakfast?”

Alice ducks away for a moment, shy, before grinning and running over to him. He picks her up and sets her gently on his hip. “Bye, Mama. Bye, Aunt Wave.”

“I’ll see you later, kiddo,” Waverly says.

Wynonna kisses her on the top of the head. “Bye, baby girl. Be good, okay?”

“I will!”

Waverly puts her arm around Wynonna’s waist as Doc and Alice leave. “That can’t have been easy.”

“Not completely. But it’s better for her. It’s what’s _best_ for her. And that’s what really matters, right?”

Waverly presses a quick kiss to Wynonna’s cheek. “Yes. It is.”

+++++

Nicole watches the procession of mourners for a few hours, until Nedley makes his way through and takes a seat in one of the chairs lined up in the room. She walks over and sits down next to him, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.

“You’re at a funeral, girl, sit up straight,” he mutters out of the corner of his mouth.

She pushes back upright, leaning on her hands instead. “Nothing _about_ me is straight.”

Nedley gently cuffs her in the back of her ear. “Why did I take you in again?”

Nicole leans against his shoulder. “I wasn’t as snarky when I was lying bloody in a car wreck or dosed on morphine in the hospital, so you thought I was going to be a good influence on Chrissy.”

“I still remember, during that first month when you had moved in, I brought you to the station with me one time. Do you remember? You were ten, and you spent the whole day in Curtis’s office, pestering him about any law or police question you could think of.”

“I tried to convince him to give me a set of handcuffs so I could cuff Tucker Gardner to the jungle gym during recess.”

Nedley snorts out a laugh. “He never told me that. Why did you want to do that?”

Nicole blushes. “Well. He was mean to Waverly.”

“Of course.” Nedley puts his arm around her shoulders. “You should tell them, you know,” he says softly. “They deserve the truth.”

“I can’t,” Nicole whispers. “I _can’t_ , Dad. You don’t know what it’s like.”

“If you need help, kid, just tell me. I’ll do anything for you; you know that.”

Nicole shakes her head. “I have things handled. Everything’ll work out. I just need time. I need you to trust me.”

Nedley squeezes her close and kisses her temple. “Always have, Nicole. Always will.”

+++++

Gus, Wynonna, Waverly, and Nicole return to the bed and breakfast through heavy wind gusts, snow already falling in earnest.

“Lord almighty,” Gus gasps, brushing snowflakes out of her hair as she kicks off her shoes. “That’s blowing in _fast_.”

Waverly glances out the window. “I hope everyone made it home okay.”

“I’m going to go bring in some more firewood before it gets any worse out there,” Nicole says.

Wynonna paces with her cellphone pressed to her ear as Nicole steps back outside.

“Who are you calling?” Gus asks, frowning.

“Come on,” Wynonna mutters, not listening. “Come on, come on, come on.”

The door opens again, and Doc walks in, ushering Alice in front of him. “Sorry,” he says, taking his hat off of his head. “The roads are just awful out there, but I wanted to make sure I brought her back here the moment I saw this storm picking up.”

Wynonna hugs Alice tightly. She briefly makes eye contact with Doc and nods. “Thank you.”

Waverly frowns, still looking out the window. “Something’s not right.”

“What do you mean, baby girl?”

“The tree out front looks-”

She’s interrupted by the howl of wind and a sickeningly loud cracking noise, and the whole house shakes. CJ starts barking upstairs, a sharp, panicked cry that’s accompanied by the sound of his feet hitting against the door of Nicole’s room.

The front door opens, and Nicole bursts in so quickly that she practically tumbles into the room, tripping and spilling the logs she’s carrying all over the floor. She slams the door behind her and runs towards them.

“Geez, Haught, it’s just some wind,” Wynonna snarks.

“Get away from the windows.”

Waverly frowns. “What?”

_“Get away from the windows!”_ Nicole grabs the table from the dining room and drags it into the welcome room, then roughly forces Alice under it.

“Haught, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Wynonna demands.

Nicole doesn’t answer. She takes Waverly’s hand, pulls her away from the window, and shoves her under the table as well before reaching for Gus. “Just do it, Earp.”

Gus catches on before Nicole has to give her instructions, and kneels down under the table next to Alice, hugging the girl closely. Wynonna and Doc exchange a glance, shrug, and follow. Nicole, however, turns and sprints up the stairs towards her barking dog.

Waverly hears Nicole’s bedroom door open, then another loud gust of wind blows past the house, and a deafening crack vibrates around them. Alice screams, and the power goes out, and there’s a noise so heavy and crushing that it sounds like a car crash.

_“Nicole!”_ Waverly yells.

There’s a long, _long_ moment of _nothing_. Just Alice’s scared crying, all of their uncertain breathing, and the storm raging outside.

Then a flashlight beam falls on the floor in front of them, and CJ nudges himself under the table to lick at Alice’s face.

“Oh, thank god,” Nicole sighs.

Waverly grips the top of the table and pulls herself out from under it and to her feet. She shoves Nicole a few steps away back. “What the hell was that, Nicole?”

“It was coming down. I could see it. But I couldn’t tell what direction or how soon, and I needed to get you all as shielded as possible.” Nicole gives a sheepish shrug. “I don’t know how good a table would’ve done any of us, but it was all I had.”

Gus extracts herself from the floor. “What was coming down?”

“Yeah… I’m not sure we’re going to like the answer to that.” Nicole heads to the front door and opens it.

They flinch as wind and snow blow in, but as they adjust their eyes, Nicole’s flashlight beam cutting through the darkness of the clouded sky, they can see a large tree lying directly in front of them, only six feet from the inn.

“Damn,” Wynonna whispers.

Doc winces. “I think my truck is under that mess.”

“Most of our vehicles are,” Nicole says. “That’s not the only problem, though. That tree took out the power lines and the phone lines. It’s also blocking all access to the road.”

“So… wait…” Wynonna pauses, staring at Nicole. “We’re like… _really_ trapped. Between this and the blizzard…”

“Yeah. We’d best hope we can all tolerate each other, because unless this snowstorm is a real short one, none of us are getting out of here any time soon.”

Wynonna groans and walks over to the couch, falling onto it face down. “I should’ve stocked the cabinets with alcohol.”


	7. take that road before us

Waverly knocks softly on Nicole’s door. “Hey,” she murmurs. “Can I come in?”

She hears CJ snuffling at the gap at the base of the door, then hears Nicole say, “Sure.”

Waverly enters the room and closes the door behind her, giving CJ a quick pat. “Oh, Jesus.” She flinches and turns away, covering her eyes. “Couldn’t you have warned me, Nic?”

Nicole is sitting on her bed, her dress shirt unbuttoned, showing her torso and bra. “Oh,” she sighs. “Sorry. I wasn’t that worried about it. Uhm. Are you... okay?”

“Yeah. Gus is making some dinner downstairs. Not something huge, though, because she wants to hold off on using a lot of supplies up.” Waverly pauses. “Are you alright? You sound… You sound really _tired_.”

“Mm. Probably right.”

Waverly bites her lip before turning around and walking over to her. “You were up almost all night. Up early this morning. You literally ran in here like a maniac to try to keep us safe in case a tree fell on the house.” She cups Nicole’s face in her hands and lifts her head to meet her gaze. “You’re allowed to be tired.”

Nicole shakes her head. “No. I have nothing to complain about. I’m sorry, Waverly. This whole mess is ruining what should be your family’s time to mourn Curtis. And now you’re stuck in here with me.”

“I feel like the fact that I tried to kiss you last night should’ve clued you in to the fact that I’m not mad at you anymore, Nicole.” Waverly smiles sheepishly. “I’m still sorry about that.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yes. I do. You had every reason not to reach out to me. Every reason to be afraid of what I would say. But _me_? I could’ve called you, Nicole. I could’ve tried to ask you why you left. And instead, I was just a coward.”

“You’ve never been a coward, Waverly Earp. Not once.”

They stare at each other, breath mingling in their closeness, until CJ comes between them and bumps his nose against Nicole’s stomach. She hisses and flinches away, pulling out of Waverly’s grip.

“What’s wrong?”

“Cut myself on one of the logs while I was running inside. Thing stabbed all the way through my clothes. I was looking at it when you knocked.”

Waverly moves Nicole’s shirt to the side and looks at the thin gash across Nicole’s skin. “Oof. It doesn’t look bad, but we should still get it cleaned and bandaged. There’s no sense in risking it getting infected when we’re stuck in a storm.”

“Yeah, I was planning to check with Gus and see if she has anything.”

“We do. I’ll go get it.”

Nicole blinks at her. “You don’t have to. I can-”

“Nic,” Waverly interrupts gently. “Let me. Please?”

“… Okay.”

+++++

“What do you plan to do for sleeping arrangements?” Doc asks quietly, watching as Alice amuses herself with a set of toy cars.

“I was talking to Gus about that,” Wynonna replies, her voice equally soft. “The rooms won’t be warm enough with the power out. The best place for us to be is in here, with the fireplace. We’ll gather all the blankets and pillows and make a sort of campsite. Nicole got a decent amount of firewood into the house, which will be good. I think I’d like to get some tablecloths and try covering the windows. I’m not sure exactly how good they are, and while I’m sure it won’t completely block any heat from getting out, I’d rather have some sort of covering.”

Doc nods. “I could help you with that.”

“Alright.” Wynonna swallows, her gaze dropping to Alice. “I just… more than anything, I want to keep her calm. Happy. I don’t want her to be afraid. She’s already confused over Curtis’s death. I don’t want to put this on her, too.”

“If she is anything like you, she will be just fine.”

Wynonna lets out a soft laugh. “That would be easier to believe if I _felt_ fine right now.”

Doc reaches out and briefly rests a hand on her shoulder. “Then shall we go cover those windows?”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

+++++

“Can I tell you something? Will you promise not to tell anyone else?”

Nicole grits her teeth as Waverly presses a warm washcloth against the gash in her side. “You can tell me anything. And of course I promise.”

“I’m… I’m worried about Gus.”

“How so?”

Waverly shrugs and dabs at the wound with a gauze pad to dry it. “She’s so concerned with what we’re doing and what the town’s doing and keeping everything in line that I just don’t think she’s really taking the time to _feel_ what’s happened yet.”

“I think that happens to people sometimes. When my parents and I were in that car crash, I was stuck in that car while they bled to death for _five hours_. I went through the whole mourning process, sitting there in that seat. By the time Dad- _Dad_ Dad, I mean. Randy. -got there, I was talking to him like nothing had happened. Completely blank. No emotion whatsoever. And I…” Nicole rubs the back of her neck, watching Waverly put ointment on her wound. “I’ve never told _anyone_ this before, Waves. Not even you. But I _never_ cried for my parents after I was pulled out of that car.”

Waverly looks up at her, stunned. “Not once?”

“Not even once. I _missed_ them, absolutely. I wished things hadn’t happened the way they did. But I never _cried_ over them.” Nicole swallows. “It took me a long time to figure out that I wasn’t a bad person for that.”

“You were just a kid,” Waverly says softly. “You didn’t know how to handle it. But you managed, and you became the best person you could manage to be. That’s what matters. Not some tears.”

“Best person, huh? You really think that?”

“Maybe not for certain, not yet,” Waverly admits with a smirk. “But I’m sure you’ll find a way to prove it.”

Nicole gives a small nod. “Gus will be okay, Waverly. She’s coping the way she needs to. The best we can do is give her whatever help we can.” Once Waverly finishes with the bandage, Nicole lifts her chin with a finger, meeting their gazes. “As long as you remember to cope, too.”

“I wish we could have just one more normal Christmas,” Waverly whispers. “Ugly sweaters, hot cocoa contests, decorations all over, snowball fights, ice skating out on Beaver Lake. Waking up early to Curtis cooking pancakes in the shape of gingerbread men. Gus baking cookies and slapping his hand away when he tries to steal them before they’re cooled and iced.” She clears her throat and looks away, tears in her eyes. “I just wish… I just wanted Alice to be able to get even _one_ Christmas like that. Like the ones that made Wynonna and I- Willa too -feel like we were finally part of a real _home_. And she’s never going to get that.”

Nicole leans forward and presses a soft, simple kiss to the side of Waverly’s head. “She _can_ , Waverly. Don’t you see? It might not be exactly the same, but it’s the love that matters. It’s what they did for you that matters. There’s nothing stopping you from recreating that feeling for Alice.”

Waverly shakes her head. “I adore your optimism, Nic, but without him, it’s meaningless. He was all of it. Gus won’t even consider it. We lost Christmas when we lost Curtis.”

Nicole hugs her, grip gentle to avoid pulling Waverly into the injury in her side. “That’s okay. It’ll be okay, Waverly.”

“Promise?”

“I don’t know if I can,” Nicole admits. “But I’ll do whatever’s possible to try to make it happen. Would that work?”

Waverly smiles, pushing a strand of hair off of Nicole’s face. “Absolutely.” She takes Nicole’s hand and pulls her to her feet. “Now, come on, let’s get a shirt on you. Something warm. There’s no way you’re staying in this room when there’s no heat in this building.”

“Gus banned me from sleeping in the welcome room,” Nicole says with a laugh.

“Well, I own this place, too,” Waverly replies, grinning. “So, Nicole Haught, I am formally and officially _un_ banning you.”

Nicole mirrors her grin. “I very much appreciate that.”


	8. voices by starlight

They sit in a circle of blankets, eating grilled cheese sandwiches and playing dominoes.

“This is why I won’t get one of those electric stoves,” Gus says. “I can still light the burner. Good thing I already had the cheese out, though, or I’d have to stick to peanut butter sandwiches.”

“If we think the power’ll stay out, we can move the stuff from the fridge outside,” Waverly says. “Make a spot in a snowbank and put it in something that might keep it relatively safe from animals. It would be a good way to keep things we could end up needing in tact.”

Nicole sets a domino down. “I can do it after I’m done eating.”

Waverly pats her knee. “You don’t need to do everything for us, Nic.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

Waverly shoots a glare at Wynonna, who just shrugs.

“Mama, how d’we stay warm tonight?” Alice asks as she puts a domino down.

“We’re going to have a sleepover.” Wynonna brushes Alice’s hair back with her fingers. “We have all these blankets, and we have some more over there, and we have pillows, and the fire, and we’re going to get all bundled up and camp out here. We’ll be plenty warm.”

Alice frowns. “What about CJ?”

Nicole pats the dogs head. “He’s a husky-greater swiss mountain dog mix. He’s built for the cold. And don’t worry, he’ll bundle himself up with us. If you ask, I’m sure he’ll even be willing to snuggle in with you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, as long as it’s okay with your mom.”

“Can I, Mama?” Alice asks, excited, looking up at Wynonna.

Wynonna watches Nicole for a moment, reading between the lines, seeing the opportunity for added warmth for her daughter. “Yeah, baby girl. That’ll be fine.”

“Yay!”

Nicole stands, stretching for a moment. “I’m going to step outside. Need to let CJ out, even though the weather still sucks.”

“Be careful,” Waverly says softly.

“Don’t worry,” Nicole replies with a grin. “I won’t summon any more trees.”

+++++

Nicole holds CJ’s leash tightly in her gloved hand, shivering against the icy wind as the dog wanders around the deep snow. “C’mon, dude,” she grumbles.

She pulls out her phone, hits one of her contacts, and holds it up to her ear.

_“Nic?”_

“Hey, Dad.”

_“Are you okay? Where are you?”_

“The bed and breakfast. Waverly, Wynonna, Alice, Gus, and Doc are all here, too. A tree fell down in front of the building, knocked the power out, but we have enough firewood and food that we should be fine through this storm. I just wanted to let you know while I still had cell service.”

_“Good girl. You going to be okay over there?”_

Nicole laughs. “Yes. And it’s not exactly like you could come get me if I wasn’t, Dad.”

_“I’d fine a way. I drove through the blizzard of ’08 to pick up your sister from that party, didn’t I?”_

“Yeah. You went out there like an idiot, almost punched a thirteen-year-old boy, and drove Chrissy and Waverly both back to our house and made us all hot chocolate.”

_“As if you wouldn’t have punched Champ Hardy for making Waverly cry.”_

“Since you can’t come get me, I’ll mention that I totally did punch Champ Hardy.”

_“What? When did you-”_

“I have to go now,” Nicole interrupts. “Bye, Dad. I love you.”

_“I love you, too, Nicole, but I’m not done with this-”_

“Mhm, bye now, love you.” Nicole hangs up, snickering. “Alright, CJ. Come on. Let’s grab some of those pieces of firewood before they get too wet and buried, and head back inside.”

+++++

Wynonna follows Waverly into the kitchen, carrying plates. “I don’t know if I’m ready to wet my hands with cold water.”

“Oh, god,” Waverly whispers. “No power… no water heater… no hot water. How are we supposed to shower?”

“Ye Olden Buckets Of Heated Water In A Tub?” Wynonna offers. “Honestly, how should I know?”

“Helpful.”

“I try my best.” Wynonna leans against the counter, taking up drying duties as Waverly braves the faucet and soap. “So. Haught. You want to tell me what’s going on there?”

“Going on?”

“Please tell me you’re not sleeping with that traitor, Waverly.”

Waverly’s brow furrows. “Wynonna, I’m not sleeping with her. I just trust her.”

“What on earth for?”

“I found out that…” She takes in a long, slow breath. “I found out that she didn’t intend to ditch me like that during school.”

Wynonna raises an eyebrow. _“Intend?”_

“No, no, it’s not like it sounds. An email was sent from my account. I didn’t send it, but it _looked_ like I did. It ripped Nicole apart, told her I didn’t want to see her again. Then Nicole’s number was blocked from my phone and yours, so she couldn’t call me and try to talk me out of throwing her out of my life.”

“Christ. Who would do that?”

There’s a pause, as Waverly waits for Wynonna to finish drying a dish and set it down. “I-I have a theory. But you aren’t going to like it.”

“I don’t think I like any of this already. Lay it on me.”

“I think it was Willa. And I think it was Black Badge, too.”

Wynonna stares, fingers drumming on the plate next to her. Then, softly, she whispers. “Explain. Explain _everything_.”


	9. hard to sleep tonight

“You’re telling me that Nicole doesn’t know anything about Willa being in Black Badge?” Wynonna asks as she paces in front of Waverly in the kitchen.

“From what I can tell, yes.”

Wynonna snorts. ”Okay, but you were never great at telling when Haught was lying, baby girl.”

“I know that. I do. But this is… It’s a different feeling, okay? I’m not a kid anymore. And I _know_ that Nicole is telling me the truth.”

“And what does that mean for us? That Willa just went off and joined the same group that ruined our father? For what purpose?” Wynonna stops pacing, bracing her hands on the back of a chair. “And please, Waverly, explain exactly what noble cause Nicole could have for taking our land from us and then leaving it out there to rot.”

Waverly bites her lip. “I don’t have all of the answers. I didn’t talk to Nic about that yet. My point, Wynonna, is that _so much_ is already proven to be not true. Can we please just… Can we give her a chance to prove herself? I know it’s asking a lot, and I know that I have only encouraged the anger, but I…” She turns away, shaking her head and rubbing her hand over her mouth.

Wynonna studies her for a moment. “You’re still in love with her,” she says softly. “Even after all this time. Even after all the turmoil. You’re in love with her.”

“Yeah,” Waverly whispers. “The moment I saw her again, there was that first burst of anger, but then I just… God, Wynonna, even with those feelings, I just _wanted her_. I _needed_ her to be here for this. I always thought it was just high school puppy love, but the more I see her now, the more this weight just settles throughout my bones. I _love_ her. I-I think I _always_ have. Since the day I first saw her.”

“I know,” Wynonna says gently. She sets her hands on Waverly’s shoulders, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “Whatever you do, could you _please_ be careful? She already broke your heart once, Waverly, intentional or not. I don’t want you to have to go through that again. I _might_ have to kill her.”

“Oh, god. Please don’t.”

“You’re very contradictory.” Wynonna smiles and pats Waverly’s arm before returning to washing dishes. “I’m not going to tell you not to choose your own path, kid. But just… don’t get lost, alright? Make sure you know the road ahead of you before you just keep pushing forward.”

“I will. And believe me, we _all_ want to understand the full picture. I just… I’m enjoying the bit of peaceful time I have, you know?”

“Yes,” Wynonna murmurs. “I know.”

+++++

Nicole watches as Alice and CJ curl up together on the floor, under as much of a mountain of blankets as the adults could afford to spare.

“I’ll stay up tonight,” she says, rubbing the back of her neck and trying to fight the exhaustion off of her face. “Somebody needs to make sure that fire doesn’t go out of get out of control.”

“You’re exhausted,” Waverly argues. “At the very _least_ we should take shifts, and you shouldn’t be _first_.”

“Wave, it was a long day for you guys. It’s the least I can do. I’ll be fine. Just go ahead and get some… get some rest.”

She mumbles a curse under her breath at the yawn that interrupts her speech, avoiding the glare Waverly is shooting at her.

“Nicole Rayleigh Haught, you are going to pass out, and that isn’t going to do any of us any good. _Sleep._ ”

“But-”

“I will watch the fire,” Doc interrupts. “I have plenty of sleep under my belt, and I did not have as rough of a day as you all.”

Nicole hesitates. “You’re sure? I don’t want you to feel like you _have_ to.”

“There is not a problem at all, Nicole. Go on. Get some rest.”

+++++

When Nicole finally settles, restless and uneasy, she’s buried under three blankets and one of her thick jackets. She listens to the howling wind outside, unsettled, until she feels Waverly inch closer and wrap her arms around Nicole’s waist, her body pressed against her back.

Nicole waits a moment, confused, before whispering, “Waverly.”

“Hmmm.”

“Waverly, are you awake?”

Waverly’s forehead presses into Nicole’s spine. “Whad’you want?” she mumbles.

“Uh. I wasn’t sure if you. Knew you were spooning me.”

“M’cold.”

“Hey,” Nicole murmurs gently. She rolls over carefully until they’re face to face and pulls Waverly closer to her. “You’re alright.”

Waverly snuggles in even closer, and Nicole flushes pink. “Warm.”

Nicole chuckles softly. “Yeah, and _asleep_ , huh?”

Waverly makes a quiet noise that sounds like an agreement, already drifting deeper.

“That’s alright, too.” Nicole brushes her fingers up and down Waverly’s back. “Goodnight, Waverly.”

+++++

Waverly wakes with a pile of heavy blankets on top of her and the warmth of Nicole’s body beneath her.

She pauses a moment, studying the edge of Nicole’s jaw as she sleeps.

“Aunt Wave? I need t’use the bathroom, but I can’t find it.”

Waverly looks up at Alice, glancing over briefly at the steady fire and Doc asleep beside it. “I can take you, honey. It’s too dark for you to wander around in here, anyway.” She carefully slides off of Nicole, keeping as many blankets on the sleeping woman as possible. Then she takes Alice’s hand and guides her up the stairs, grabbing a flashlight from a table on her way.

“Aunt Wave, can I ask somethin’?”

“Sure, kiddo.”

“Is Nicole bad?”

Waverly blinks at her, startled. “What? Why would you think that?”

“You and Mama were being mean to her.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Waverly crouches down in front of Alice. “Your Mama and I have known Nicole for a long time. Sometimes people get complicated. But I promise you, Nicole is not bad. She was always one of the best people I’ve ever known. We all just got a little lost. Do you understand that?”

“Yeah.” Alice grins. “Good. I’m happy Nicole is good.”

“You are?”

“Yeah! Her dog is cool!”

Waverly laughs and ruffles Alice’s hair. “I’m glad. Can I tell you a secret?”

Alice nods rapidly.

Waverly lowers her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’m happy Nicole is good, too.”


	10. wish i knew how

Nicole watches the sun rise from the front step of the inn, holding CJ’s leash as he wanders around the yard.

“Shit. It’s still coming down pretty hard out here,” Wynonna comments as she steps outside, jacket and blanket pulled tightly around her, coffee mug clenched in one hand.

“Yeah. You can just see the sun through the clouds, though.” Nicole takes in a long, slow breath. “I miss it out here,” she murmurs. “The quiet.”

Wynonna shifts her weight between her feet, uncertain, before saying, “Yeah. You never really seemed like much of a city type.”

“I’m not. It’s just where I need to be.”

“Mm.” Wynonna takes a sip of coffee. “Is it where you _want_ to be?”

Nicole bites her lip and shrugs. “I’m not really sure I can answer that, Wynonna. It is what it is.”

“Just don’t break my sister’s heart again, Haught.”

CJ tugs a bit on his leash, picking up a stick to chew on. Nicole turns to look at Wynonna. “What? What do you mean?”

“If you can’t see what’s happening, you’re an even bigger fool than I thought you were. And that’s _not_ a place you want to be in.”

“I’m doing my best here. I don’t want to hurt her any more than I already have.” Nicole pauses. “And I don’t want to hurt you, either.”

“Hard to hurt somebody who’s already prepared for it.”

Nicole flinches and looks away, blinking as the wind shifts and some snow blows under the overhang into her eyes.

“Okay, wait,” Wynonna sighs. “I’m sorry. That was harsher than I intended. Waverly told me what happened. The truth about Willa, and how you didn’t try to ditch Waves. I appreciate that, Nicole. I really do. But you also took my family’s land, and I don’t know if I can forgive you for that.”

Nicole pauses, her jaw tensing. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Wynonna. Today is not the day for me to talk about it.”

“Does that mean there’s going to be a day? Soon? Or are you going to go back to the city and leave us all with the pieces and no answers again?”

Nicole tugs lightly on the leash and whistles, summoning CJ back to her. “I’m going to do my best, Wynonna. That’s what I can promise.”

+++++

“I’m not used to freezing whenever I get milk for my cereal,” Waverly jokes as she comes back into the house, brushing snow off of the carton before setting it on the table.

“Are you sure? You wear crop tops in October.”

Waverly punches Wynonna’s shoulder and hands Doc a cup of coffee. “Does anybody have any ideas on what to do while we’re cooped up in here? I have some books on the language development of ancient Middle Eastern cultures that I think could-”

“Be the most boring thing you’ve ever said in your life?” Wynonna interrupts dryly.

Waverly sticks her tongue out at her sister as Gus says, “I suppose it would be too much to ask for you all to clean this place.”

“I would not mind helping if you need something, Gus,” Doc replies.

Nicole shrugs. “Me neither.”

Alice shoves a whole spoonful of Froot Loops into her mouth before mumbling, “Ey’cn’hlp!”

Wynonna sighs and pours milk onto her own bowl of Froot Loops. “Somehow, I _knew_ that you all would come up with something that was terrible.”

+++++

Doc stands on a ladder, a dust cloth in his hand as he leans on one of the dressers in an unoccupied room and dusts the top of it.

“So, uh… have you been able to contact the guys at your ranch?” Wynonna asks as she leans against the doorframe, watching him.

“Yes. I called them as soon as I realized I would be stuck here. Robin is going to make sure everything runs as it is supposed to until I can get back.” Doc shoots a grin over his shoulder at her. “I might have to pay him more, given how badly he wanted to leave to make sure Jeremy was alright.”

Wynonna frowns. “Why would he think Jeremy wasn’t?”

“I forgot you have not been around. They have been, how should I put it, _involved_ for some time now.”

“Huh. I didn’t realize Robin was gay. I thought he dated Chrissy Nedley in high school.”

Doc snorts. “Yes, and your sister went to a movie with Champ Hardy because she knew it would get Nicole all hot and bothered. Dating in school in pretty meaningless.”

“Ouch. Here I thought we had something, John Henry.”

Doc turns a bit on the ladder, brow furrowed with concern, but Wynonna is just smirking up at him. He laughs. “Uh huh. Well, you cannot be right about _everything_ , Wynonna Earp.”

+++++

Nicole wipes down the top of the cedar chest in an empty room, her mind wandering.

She takes her cellphone out of her pocket and checks it. There’s a signal, though her battery is almost dead.

“Screw it,” she mumbles. She hits the call button and holds it up to her ear.

_“Are you finally heading back here, Haught?”_

“No. I told you. I’m stuck here.”

There’s a pause. _“That’s not an acceptable answer.”_

Nicole scoffs. “I really don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

_“Why call me if you aren’t groveling or reporting that you’re on your way?”_

“I wanted to ask you something. The Earps think I did something with their land. My deal with you was _specifically about_ keeping their land in tact. So if you want me to keep being your little pawn, you had better tell me what exactly I’m supposed to be getting out of this.”

_“The inn.”_

“That’s not good enough, and you know that’s not what we agreed to.”

_“Oh, but it is. I promised to keep that land in the hands of an Earp. Once it was processed over to your name, I gave it to Willa. Free of charge.”_

Nicole laughs, cold and without humor. “Right. Of course. So you played me, and you played Curtis, and for what? What is the point of this, Del Ray? What do you even _need_ me for?”

_“Can’t show all the cards at once, Haught. Goodbye.”_

“Don’t you dare hang up on me, Del Ray,” she snarls. “Don’t you-” The line goes dead, and she tosses her phone onto the bed in a fit of frustration.

Nicole stands there for a moment, her hands clenching in and out of fists. Then she turns around to leave the room, and walks straight into Wynonna.


	11. meek and the bold

“I can explain,” Nicole stammers quickly, as if it’s a good plan.

Wynonna grabs her by the collar of the thick flannel shirt Waverly gave her. “If I were you,” she growls, “I would do it _quickly_ , before I knock your teeth in, Haught. Because I have a _very clear_ memory of telling you not to hurt my sister, and talking to Bobo Del Ray in secret, especially after what we’ve discussed, will _absolutely_ qualify.”

“He’s my boss,” Nicole points out. “You already knew that.”

“You’re not explaining fast enough.”

“Okay, okay, hold on. Just hold on a minute, would you? I need…” Nicole runs a hand through her hair. “Alright,” she sighs. “Alright. But if I’m explaining, I would rather do it for you, _and_ Waverly, _and_ Gus. This is about _all_ of you. And as much as I didn’t want to do it at _all_ right now, I don’t think I’d be able to go through telling it twice.”

Wynonna lets her go slowly. “Stay here.”

Nicole gives a tired gesture around the room. “Can’t exactly climb out the window and make a break for it.”

“I swear to god, Nicole.”

Wynonna walks out of the room, leaving Nicole waiting with her hands in her pockets, shifting her weight back and forth awkwardly. Waverly steps into the room first, looking concerned, but Nicole can say nothing to her before Wynonna and Gus follow her.

“What is going on in here?” Gus asks.

“This one,” Wynonna snarls, pointing at Nicole, “was on the phone. With Bobo Del Ray.”

Waverly visibly flinches. “What? _Why?_ ”

“He’s my _boss_.” Nicole sighs and shakes her head. “And I wanted to ask him something. Something I needed to know.”

Wynonna snorts. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

Nicole turns away, wandering over to the window and staring out of it at the snow. “Why the deals Curtis and I made didn’t stick.”

A thick silence settles between them. Wynonna starts to interrupt it, but Gus holds up a hand to stop her, then whispers, “What are you talking about? _What_ deal?”

“Bobo came to me when I was in school,” Nicole starts softly. “He offered me a job with his company. But I knew who he was, what a similar job had done to Ward, so I turned him down. He told me that there was an adjusted offer, different terms, that could still be on the table, if I wanted it. That I might want it once I talked to Curtis about the deal he made.

“I talked to Curtis the next time I was home. Asked him about what Bobo meant. I’d never seen Curtis so _quiet_. He told me that Ward had signed everything over to Bobo as part of some condition of his contract. His portion of ownership of the inn, all of the Earp land, it all belonged to Black Badge. So Curtis… bargained. His own portion of the inn was in his name only, not Gus’s, so he put the whole thing on the line, plus the Earp land, and offered to pay a ransom of sorts to Bobo to keep it all in the family. Everything would stay in Curtis’s name, or under his control until you Earps were all old enough to inherit it equally, and in exchange Curtis would pay Bobo and shuttle tips about big crime busting opportunities over to him. That undercover sting Black Badge pulled off not far from here, the one that made them really well known? Curtis _found_ that info, but he passed it off because of this deal.”

“He would never,” Wynonna growls through clenched teeth.

“You didn’t have anything else _left_ ,” Nicole retorts. “Your father washed everything else of your family name down an alcohol bottle, and all you had left that was _just yours_ was that land. All Curtis and Gus really had was this bed and breakfast. You really don’t believe he’d sacrifice a few potential busts to those jerks to give you _something_?”

She runs a hand over her face and closes her eyes. “I know how he felt,” she whispers. “Because I did the same thing.”

Waverly takes a cautious few steps forward and places her hand on Nicole’s elbow. “What did you do, Nicole?”

“I took the offer,” she murmurs.

“What does that mean?”

Nicole runs her hand through her hair and turns away again, her shoulders hunched. “I took Curtis’s deal away. It wasn’t long afterwards that I got the email saying that you didn’t want to see me again, so I didn’t have any real future to look forward to here. Bobo wanted me to work for him. So I made a new deal with him. I’d take the job. Take the debt. And in exchange, the land is given back into the hands of an Earp, and the inn is completely signed over to Curtis to do with as he pleased.”

“But that’s not what happened,” Wynonna says slowly. “ _You_ have the land.”

Nicole gives a low, pained laugh. “I don’t. He forged that. _They_ forged it.” She glances over her shoulder. “Haven’t you put it together, Earp?”

Waverly sits down on the spare bed, looking stunned. “Willa,” she whispers.

Gus and Wynonna both turn to her. Wynonna frowns. “What?”

“The timing of the fake email to Nicole. The one I didn’t send. It wasn’t a coincidence; she sent it so you wouldn’t have something pulling you back here.” Waverly rubs at her mouth, eyes watery. “She claimed she was being blackmailed into joining Black Badge, but she wasn’t. And you didn’t take the land. She’s been working with Bobo this whole time, to blackmail you and get all the land for herself.”

“That’s the gist of it,” Nicole admits, her voice almost inaudible. “Bobo pretty much admitted it when he threatened to take all of this away if I tried to quit.”

“But _why_?” Wynonna starts to pace, her arms folded. “ _Why_ would Willa do this? And why would they want _you_? I’m having a hard time buying this, Haught.”

“Whether you believe it or not, everything I told you is the truth.” Nicole shrugs. “I can’t go back and change it. And I wouldn’t. Not if it would risk Curtis being put through even more stress, or Black Badge taking this place away from all of you.”

Wynonna pauses and turns to Gus. “Gus? What do you think?”

Gus frowns and walks up to Nicole, studying her as she goes tense with anxiety, staring at the floor. “Look me in the eyes, girl.”

Nicole hesitates briefly before raising her gaze, meeting Gus’s.

“You spent years away from your family, working at an awful job, working _for_ a terrible man, giving up… how much of your paycheck?”

“Fifty percent,” Nicole whispers.

“ _Fifty percent_ of your paycheck, to protect that reckless man I love, to protect the girls I love?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am,” Nicole stammers. “To protect you, too.”

“And the whole time, you allow us to think that you ditched us to go play penthouse in the big city, that you felt like you were too good to show your face here.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

“Did your daddy know the truth? Why you really took that job?”

“Yes, ma’am. Dad would’ve dragged me out of that office by the ear if I hadn’t convinced him that it was something that had to be done.”

Gus snorts. “He’s a smart man. He’ll be a good sheriff.” She reaches up and pats Nicole’s cheek. “You’ll be a good one, someday, too. We just need to get you out of the mess you got yourself in.”

Nicole’s eyes widen. “B-But… how…”

“Please. We’re a wily bunch. We won’t be taken down by some egotistical mall cops.” Gus winks. “And you’d know that, if you and my husband weren’t fools.” She pulls Nicole down to her and hugs her in a crushing grip.

Wynonna sighs and shrugs. “Okay. I guess we’re forgiving Nicole now?”

Waverly throws a pillow at her. “Yes. We’re forgiving Nicole now.”

“If you want to vent your aggression on someone, I suggest Bobo,” Nicole says. She tightens the hug with Gus and murmurs, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. That you had to find out _now_.”

Gus shakes her head. “Don’t be. I’m proud of you.” She gives Nicole a rough kiss on the cheek and whispers, _“Thank you.”_


	12. tales of the glories

Wynonna walks down the stairs and smiles as she sees Alice and Doc locked in a tense game of _High Ho! Cherry-O._ She sits down on the floor next to them and brushes her hand through Alice’s hair. “Hey, baby girl. Are you having a nice time?”

“Yeah!” Alice crunches down on a cookie. “Like spendin’ time with Papa.”

“That’s good. That’s real good.”

“Mama, when’re we gonna move back in with Gramma?”

Wynonna kisses Alice’s temple. “That’s something we’ll have to discuss sometime later, alright, kiddo?”

“… Okay.” Alice jumps up to her feet, almost spilling the pieces. “I need another cookie!” She runs off towards the kitchen.

“How many has she had already?”

“Probably too many,” Doc says casually.

“No wonder she loves you,” Wynonna snorts, though there’s no edge to the words.

“Seems likely.” Doc fidgets with one of the tiny cherry game pieces. “You are thinking of returning to Purgatory?”

Wynonna sighs. “I haven’t really found whatever it was I was really looking for out there. And with Alice close to real school age, I was thinking that it might be time to make sure she was put on more solid ground.” She shrugs and glances away. “Especially with everything that’s been happening.”

“If I may guess? The misdeeds of Nicole Haught were misrepresented?”

“Everything I thought about her was a lie,” Wynonna murmurs. “Makes me wonder whether I was wrong about a lot of things.”

“You are a smart, strong woman. The kind of manipulations that could turn you against your best friend are not ones that I would hold too strongly against your entire worldview.”

“Are you sure?”

Doc gives a small smile. “I am sure that you were right that we were not right for each other. Particularly at that time. We were young, dumb fools, and trying to force something to work out was never going to succeed.”

“I wasn’t _completely_ right.” Wynonna glances towards the kitchen. “You should’ve been in her life from day one. She loves you. You love her. You’re good for each other. There was no reason for me to deny you that, Henry, and I’m sorry.”

“You were protecting your child,” he says. “Hell, you believed you were protecting _our_ child. I cannot hold that against you, not fully. I will not say that it did not hurt. That it _does not_ hurt, thinking of the time I missed with her. But I can understand and appreciate you wanting to keep that little girl safe. I want nothing more than the same.”

“Regardless of the plan,” Wynonna says slowly. “Regardless of whether we return here, or settle somewhere else. I want you to be more active with her, Henry. I want her to see her more. Life’s too short for this nonsense.”

“If that is what you want,” Doc whispers. “If that is what you will permit. I will be there every moment I can manage.”

+++++

Waverly follows Nicole into her room and stands in the doorway, watching as Nicole scoops out a helping of food for CJ.

“Do you know…”

“Know what?”

“I guess I’m just not sure what kind of deal my father made to start this whole mess off.”

Nicole sets the dog bowl down and sits on the bed. “The contract he signed, when he went to work for Black Badge. It said that if he died while working for them, they got any assets he signed over as collateral for the ‘cost of replacing him’. He signed your land and his portion of the inn over as that collateral.”

“The _cost of replacing him_?” Waverly sits down next to Nicole. “That’s a terrible way to talk about someone.”

“What do you really expect from Black Badge? It’s an organization of bounty hunting, private security, and repo teams. Tons of money, sure, but essentially just thugs with permits.”

“Are you… happy?” Waverly flinches. “I’m sorry. That’s a stupid question.”

Nicole sets a hand on her knee. “It’s not a stupid question,” she murmurs gently. “And no. Honestly? _No._ This was never what I wanted to do with my life. It’s just the only thing I _can_ do with my life. My dad thinks that the deal should be up by now, and he’s right, but Bobo isn’t going to let me leave. He’s a greedy lunatic who wants more and more and more until you have nothing _left_ to give.”

“You really don’t know why he wants _you_ to hurt so much?”

Nicole looks away. “No.”

Waverly rests a finger under Nicole’s chin. “Hey. No. Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“Don’t avoid me, Nicole. Don’t _lie_ to me. _Please._ ”

“I have a theory,” Nicole admits softly. “Something I thought of. It took me a bit to put it together, because it happened when we were just kids, when all we really were was me a big idiot and you a kid with a crush. I had taken you skating, and you were _so happy_ , and you were riding on my back while we walked back home. Do you remember that?”

Waverly nods. “That was the day I knew I was in love with you. I-I… I went home and told Wynonna that I understood what love is, because I loved you.”

A faint smile forms on Nicole’s lips, tempered by the pain in her eyes. “That would explain why she did it that night, I guess.”

Waverly frowns, confused. “What are you…”

“On my way home, Willa confronted me.”

_“What?”_

“She told me that I was some worthless outsider who was never going to be anything, and that if I showed my face anywhere near you again, she would make me pay.”

“Oh, god,” Waverly whispers.

Nicole shrugs. “I told her that I didn’t care what she wanted. Her being your sister didn’t mean she was the boss of you. I was a stupid teenager; I didn’t get what she was mad about, y’know? I didn’t see yet what she saw in our relationship. But I told her that you were your own person, who chose her own friends, and if she didn’t like that, she could get over it. And… And I’ll never quite forget what she said to me.”

“What?”

“That you weren’t allowed to be happy. She wouldn’t permit it.”

Waverly swallows and closes her eyes, turning away.

“I figured it was just Willa being Willa. Grumpy jerkoff big sister talk. But now, I… I can’t help but wonder if…”

“If she targeted you to punish me,” Waverly whispers.

“Or possibly just to punish me for trying to make you happy, I don’t know.”

Waverly shakes her head slowly. “It’s all the same at the end of the day.”

“I’m sorry, Waverly.”

“What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong, Nicole. However many times I need to say that, I will. _You didn’t cause this._ ”

Nicole takes in a slow breath. “Maybe I didn’t cause it, but I could’ve told you all. I could’ve tried to do something. I could’ve… God, Waverly, I could’ve done anything other than lie down and surrender to the same torment Del Ray put your father and Curtis through.”

“You were trying to help. Maybe you could’ve gone about it another way, sure. But at the very core of your efforts, there’s nothing dishonorable about what you did, Nicole. You were just… _trying_.”

“I appreciate the sentiment. I’m sorry that I can’t feel the same.”

Waverly laughs and bumps her shoulder against Nicole’s. “Are you ever going to stop saying you’re sorry? I should be apologizing to _you_. I’m the one who was nasty to you the moment you got here. I _slapped_ you.”

Nicole grins. “It hurt, too.”

“God,” Waverly groans, putting her face in her hands. “I wish we could just do this whole thing over.”

“Would it change things?” Nicole asks softly. “If I had come home. Would you have… Would you have told me? That you loved me?”

“I still _do_ love you,” Waverly admits in a whisper. “I don’t think that’ll ever change.”

Nicole bites her lip, studying Waverly’s face for a moment. She leans in, her breath caught in her throat, and she hears Waverly take in a sharp, quiet gasp.

The door bursts open, and Nicole jumps back, startled.

“Hey, Gus is getting some dinner ready.” Wynonna narrows her eyes and puts her hands on her hips, frowning at the panicked look on Nicole’s face. “What exactly is going on in here?”

“Feeding the dog,” Nicole stammers.

“Catching up,” Waverly says at the exact same time.

“Right.” Wynonna’s eyes narrow further. “I don’t trust you.”

“I’m not surprised,” Nicole says dryly.

Wynonna points at her and, in an overly serious voice, replies, “Dinner. Two minutes. I _will_ come up here and drag you downstairs if I have to, Haught.”

She leaves, and Nicole flops onto her back on the bed, covering her face. “Lord, what did I do to deserve this?”

“We both keep trying to punish ourselves for our mistakes, but I think Wynonna is punishment enough,” Waverly jokes. She pats Nicole’s knee. “Come on. She really will count how long we stay up here.”

“One second. You wouldn’t happen to have one of those little portable battery box chargers, would you?”

Waverly hesitates. “I do…”

“My phone is dead, and I wanted to get it charged up. I’m not planning on calling Bobo again, but I want to be prepared in case he calls me. Whether we’re going to make a plan or not, none of us can afford for him to fly off the handle and take everything I’ve worked to protect just because I can’t answer him.”

“Oh. Of course. I’ll go get it, then dinner?”

“Absolutely. Oh, and Waves?”

Waverly turns back around before she reaches the door. “Yeah?”

Nicole stands and crosses the room, cupping Waverly’s face in her hands and kissing her, hard and brief, on the mouth. “I still love you, too.” She sets her phone in Waverly’s hand, gives her a slightly smug smirk, and walks out the door, CJ following at her heels.


	13. since we've no place to go

Waverly wakes to a thudding, cracking noise, and for a moment, she thinks another tree is falling.

She sits up with a jolt, but before she can open her mouth to wake anyone else, she notices that Nicole is gone.

Waverly stands and shuffles over in the direction of the noises, pulling back one of the coverings on the window and squinting into the pale early morning glow.

Nicole is outside, with the ax, taking it to some of the branches of the fallen tree, pausing every so often to scold CJ when he gets too close.

“What in the world,” Waverly whispers. She pulls on boots, gloves, and a thick jacket, and steps outside.

It takes a few moments for Nicole to notice her approach, and when she does, she buries the ax into the main trunk of the tree and turns to her, rubbing her gloved hands together. “G’morning. How’d you sleep?”

“Just fine, thanks,” Waverly says slowly. “What are you doing?”

“The storm’s passed,” Nicole replies, pointing up at the clear sky. “I figured I’d get a head start on clearing some of this out, so that we aren’t stuck here for the next decade. It’ll still take time for any vehicles to reach us, and given that all of the cars here are… well… kind of crushed… but at least we’ll have a place to start if we need one.”

“You can’t chop up an entire tree by yourself with one ax, Nicole Haught.”

Nicole gives a lazy grin. “Sure I can. Who says otherwise?”

“ _I_ say otherwise,” Waverly retorts, putting her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Geez, you give a girl one kiss and suddenly she thinks she’s the boss of you.”

Waverly pauses, concerned, until she sees the playful arrogance in Nicole’s eyes. The same cocky tint from when they were children, when Nicole was feeling particularly proud of herself, when she was _happy_.

The same stupid cockiness that combined with all the softness to make Waverly fall for her in the first place.

“Yeah? Well, I’m not going to call a hospital for you when you slip and bash your head against something. Your skull is so thick, it probably wouldn’t even hurt you anyway.”

“That’s how you’re going to be?”

“It is indeed.”

“I’m standing here trying to do you a _favor_ , Earp.”

“Looks like you’re just losing a battle with a piece of wood, Haught.”

Nicole beams. “Alright, that’s it, you’re in for it.” She lunges forward, grabbing Waverly around the waist and lifting her off the ground.

Waverly shrieks, half-laughter half-surprise, and smacks her hand against Nicole’s back. _“Don’t you dare, Nicole Rayleigh Haught!”_

She’s ignored, completely, as Nicole carries her over to a snow bank and dumps her into it, a gentle motion to ensure she isn’t hurt.

“The white looks good on you,” Nicole says, casually watching Waverly splutter as snow half-buries her. “You could probably make a killer snow angel in all of that.”

“You’re _hilarious_.” Waverly sticks out her hand and puts as much sweetness into her voice as possible. “Help me up?”

Nicole reaches out, and Waverly grabs her wrist, yanking her down into the pile of snow with her. They tumble around, trying to get as much snow as possible on each other, until Waverly pins Nicole underneath her.

“You’re a lot stronger than I remember you being,” Nicole says, breathing heavily.

Waverly, her breath just as ragged, grins. “I grew up.”

Nicole’s eyes wander briefly. “You sure did.”

Waverly snorts. “I guess we probably should’ve, like, stayed as dry and warm as possible, given the power outage.”

“Where’s the fun in that? We have a fireplace. And _plenty_ of firewood.”

“That’s true.” Waverly brushes her thumbs against the insides of Nicole’s wrists. “I’m going to kiss you.”

“Not if I kiss you first.” Nicole tries to push up and flip them, but Waverly sets all of her strength and weight, holding her down.

“No you don’t,” she whispers. “You got to kiss me last time, Nicole Haught. This is _my_ turn.”

She leans down and presses her lips against Nicole’s slowly. The kiss deepens automatically, her hands slipping off of Nicole’s wrists to thread into her hair, ignoring the snow, as Nicole’s hands move to Waverly’s waist and tug them flush against each other.

The breaths they had regained after the wrestling match are coming out choked and stammering again, short gasps in the moments they can spare to separate.

Waverly groans as Nicole’s hands move lower on her waist, but before she can really process the motion, a snowball hits her on the side of the head, startling them both out of their trance.

Gus is standing on the porch, arms crossed, frowning at them.

“It is _seven in the morning_ ,” she yells. “You are _both going to get pneumonia_.”

Nicole shifts Waverly off of her and runs a hand through her hair, flushed pink from some combination of cold, lust, and red hot embarrassment. “Sorry, Gus.”

Waverly just stammers out some sort of noise, even redder than Nicole.

Gus snorts. “Get in here and get warmed up.” She points at them. _“With the fireplace and some blankets.”_

Waverly, if possible, turns even more red.

“Yeah, uh huh, will do,” Nicole replies.

Gus rolls her eyes and walks back into the inn, whistling for CJ to follow her.

Nicole sits up and kisses Waverly’s cheek. “You still breathing there, Waves? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I don’t think Gus has ever caught me with someone before,” Waverly stammers. “Wynonna, sure, she barges into my room whenever she wants, but _Gus_? I think I should just live in the tree now.”

Nicole laughs and stands up, pulling Waverly to her feet with her. “You’re a big girl, Waverly. You’ll survive.”

Waverly groans and leans against her. “You’re bad luck.”

Nicole holds her close, rubbing her arms to warm her up. “Maybe I’m just something new.”

+++++

Wynonna sits down on a pile of blankets next to Nicole, handing her a mug of coffee. “So, I heard you got yelled at.”

“I didn’t push Waverly into anything, Wynonna. I know what you said. I have no intention of hurting her.”

Wynonna is quiet for a moment, watching a small ember burn. “I know that. I… I _believe_ that.” She glances at Nicole out of the corner of her eye. “You love her?”

“Never stopped.” Nicole takes a sip of the coffee. “God, Wynonna, I wish things had never gotten so messed up. I wish I… I don’t know. I don’t know what kind of difference it would have made in the long run. But I would’ve done anything for her if I’d known she wanted me, back then.”

“And now? Would you do the same?”

Nicole turns and meets Wynonna’s gaze. “More.”

“Then what do you want to do about Bobo?”

“I want to tell him to take his contract and eat it. But I don’t want Gus to lose this place because I’m too much of a coward to continue with the deal. And I don’t have the money to force him to accept a buyout of whatever he thinks I still owe him.”

“Then we’ll get the money.”

Nicole laughs dryly. “Yeah? Where?”

Wynonna gives a small shrug. “I have some ideas.”

+++++

Waverly stands in the kitchen, helping Gus put together breakfast. “So, uh… I’m sorry about… all of that…”

“You’re an adult, Waverly. You’re allowed to kiss people. And I _do_ genuinely like Nicole, now that I know she didn’t intentionally screw over my girls.” Gus pats Waverly on the cheek. “Honey, you stared at that girl like she was the moon and stars from the first day you met her. I’m not exactly going to act surprised that you still have feelings for her. I just think you’re both idiots for lying in the snow making out.”

Waverly blushes. “We just got distracted. We were goofing around.”

“Trust me. I’m _glad_ you’re having fun for once. You’ve been so serious the past few years, and it’s only gotten worse since… since we lost Curtis.” Gus sighs softly. “Not that I can blame you. I’ve hardly been any better.”

Waverly hugs her tightly. “You know that if you need anything, you can just ask us, right? Our drama is meaningless compared to you. We _all_ want you to be okay.”

“I _am_ okay. As okay as I can be. Though…”

“Though?”

Gus shrugs and stares off into the distance, as if looking at something Waverly can’t see. “A part of me… A part of me… _does_ … wish that I… that I could feel the same spirit for this time of year? As I did with Curtis? I just don’t… I don’t know… how I could do that…”

Waverly squeezes her tighter. “We’ll find a way,” she whispers. “I promise you. We’ll figure out a way to make it happen.”

+++++

Nicole pauses on the stairs, her empty coffee mug in her hand. She tightens her grip on the handle and walks up to her room, closing the door behind her and pulling her phone out of her pocket.

She dials in a number and holds it up to her ear.

“Hi,” she says softly. “I need you to do something for me.”


	14. have a cup of cheer

Waverly knocks on Nicole’s bedroom door. “Hey. Are you coming down to eat?” She hesitates, hearing what sounds like whispers from inside the room. “Nicole?”

The door swings open, and Nicole grins down at her. “Hey.”

“… Hi. What were you doing?”

Nicole tugs at the collar of her loose flannel shirt. “Changing. My shirt had gotten wetter than I expected, so I wanted to hang it up to dry.”

Waverly’s brow furrows. “Nicole. Please don’t lie to me.”

“What? I _changed_.” Nicole chuckles and points at the wet shirt hanging on the doorframe of her closet. “Nothing bad is happening, baby. I promise.” She hesitates, seeing the frozen expression on Waverly’s face. “O-Oh. Sorry. The ‘baby’ just slipped out, I didn’t-”

“No, no, I liked it,” Waverly interrupts, a glazed tint to her eyes.

“Yeah?”

Waverly puts a hand on the center of Nicole’s chest and slowly pushes her back into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. “Uh huh.”

“That much?”

Waverly shoves Nicole onto the bed and gets on top of her. “Uh huh.”

“The first time I sleep with you is _not_ going to be in a freezing bedroom with your entire family in the house, Waverly Earp,” Nicole says slowly.

“I agree with that. But we didn’t get enough kissing done for my liking this morning.” Waverly trails a finger up Nicole’s jawline. “I think that needs to be rectified.”

“Well, _baby_ , if you need to be kissed senseless, I think I can manage that.”

Waverly groans softly, her fingers tangling in the material of Nicole’s shirt. She leans down at the same moment Nicole flips them, pinning Waverly beneath her by her hips and by a tight grip on Waverly’s wrists.

“If you don’t kiss me right now, Nicole, I swear…”

Nicole presses a kiss to the spot behind Waverly’s jaw. “You’ll what, _baby_?”

Waverly groans again and turns her head, catching Nicole’s lips with hers before she can pull away. Nicole, laughing into the kiss, surrenders.

+++++

When they enter the kitchen, what remains of breakfast is cold, and the others have already eaten.

Wynonna glares at Nicole. “Your hair looks a bit disheveled there, Haught.”

“I’ve been washing it in a lukewarm bucket for days,” Nicole says, running a hand through it. “What do you want from me?”

“Mhm.”

Alice leans over to Doc and loudly whispers, “Why is Aunt Waverly so red?”

Doc snorts out a laugh, and Waverly’s blush deepens.

Nicole bends down to the little girl’s height and stage-whispers, “She’s embarrassed because she thinks I’m pretty.”

“Pretty cocky,” Waverly grumbles, stomping off to the stove to pour herself some coffee.

Wynonna sighs heavily and rubs at her temples. “This was easier when it was high school.”

“Probably.” Nicole straightens and puts her hands in her pockets. “By the way, my Dad texted me. Tomorrow morning the roads will be clear enough for a truck to get to us. They won’t have the resources to clear out the tree yet, but he’ll be able to drive us into the main part of town to restock on supplies and just get out of the inn for a little while. The power is back up in a lot of the larger sections, but we won’t have it back until the wires can be run again.”

“Oh, god, thank you,” Wynonna groans. “I love this place, but not _this_ much.”

Gus smiles. “Thank your father for us, Nicole. It’ll be nice to get some air.” She glances at the ledge above the sink, at the framed picture from her and Curtis’s wedding. Her voice lowers. “It’ll be nice to get away from here for a little while.”

+++++

When they go to settle for the night, playing old maid with a colorful deck of children’s playing cards, Nicole pulls Waverly aside by her arm. “I need to ask you something,” she says softly. “When I tease you, now, now that things are… different… between us, you know that it’s because I want things to stay light, right? I know that we aren’t the same people we were as children, I know that we need to really _talk_ and work things out, and figure out who we _are now_. And I hope you know that I’m not completely that same person anymore. But I… I just want it to feel _normal_ , to feel _free_ and _fun_ , just for this little bit of confinement that we have left. We can be adults about it later?”

Waverly reaches up and strokes her thumb against Nicole’s cheek. “Of course I understand that,” she murmurs, giving her a small smile. “Nic, I’m not the same person I was then, either. I’ve grown up. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to _try_. It just means it’s not the _same_. I understand that there’s still a lot that needs to be done. I understand that there’s still a lot we need to talk about.” She lifts Nicole’s head a bit, meeting her gaze. “And I understand that you’ll have to leave.”

Nicole closes her eyes. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to talk about this yet.”

“Tough luck,” Waverly teases. She presses a soft, chaste kiss to Nicole’s lips. “You have to go, don’t you? Back to your job, back to deal with Bobo.”

“Yes. Believe me, Waverly, if I didn’t have to go, I…”

“You’d what?”

“I’d ask you if you’d consider trying again. If you’d consider that effort to be adults about things.”

Waverly’s fingers tense against Nicole’s cheek. “What if I’d say yes? What if I want to call you while you’re gone, keep in touch, have those real conversations even when we’re apart, and see if maybe, someday, we can have that second chance?”

Nicole leans down and kisses her, a bit hard, as if she’s afraid it’ll be her last opportunity. She breathes out a laugh as she says, “You have yourself a deal, Waverly Earp.”

“God, no more deals,” Waverly laughs. “Can you just make it a promise?”

Nicole rests her forehead against Waverly’s. “A promise, then.”

+++++

The bed and breakfast wakes to the scent of hot chocolate.

Wynonna rubs at her eyes and pulls her blanket off of her face. “Am I having a stroke?”

“If you are, so am I, because I smell it, too.” Gus sits up and nudges Waverly and Doc awake. “What is going… on…” Her voice trails off as her eyes widen. “Oh my Lord.”

“What’s goin’ on?” Waverly asks, trying to blink sleep out of her eyes. She looks around, and her jaw drops.

The entire room is decorated. A Christmas tree in the corner. Wreaths on the walls. Stockings over the fireplace. Tinsel hanging from the doorframes.

Wynonna sits up slowly, staring. “How on Earth…”

“Mama’s up! Mama’s up! Mama’s up!” Alice marches into the room, carrying a tray.

Nicole follows behind her with a tray of mugs, grinning. “I can see that.”

They’re both wearing awfully gaudy Christmas sweaters, Alice in one that was Waverly’s as a child that’s a little bit too big, Nicole in one that’s just a tad too small.

Nicole crouches down, setting the tray on the floor, and passes the mugs around to everyone. “S’mores hot chocolate, to Gus’s recipe. Had to be adjusted just a little be to make up for the lack of oven, though. I had to resort to boxed graham cracker sleds with a marshmallow on top to represent a snowman. Alice decorated them, though.”

Alice presents her tray, beaming, showing the little graham cracker slices topped with one big marshmallow, a small marshmallow for a head, two eyes made with edible marker, and a Hersey kiss for a hat.

“They’re awesome, baby girl,” Wynonna says as she takes one.

Waverly gives a small laugh. “Breakfast of champions.” She takes a sip of hot chocolate and looks at Nicole. “Did… Did you do all of this?”

“Yep. Well, Alice helped. She woke up and caught me sneaking everything out of the attic, so I gave her jobs to do. As you can probably tell from how amazing it is, she did the tree.”

Wynonna looks over, taking in the haphazard tinsel and ornaments placed only as high as a four-year-old’s reach. “That is the best tree I have _ever_ seen.”

“You can enjoy your hot chocolate, but you guys also have to get up and dressed. There are sweaters laid out for you in your rooms.”

“What’s the rush, Haught? You have somewhere to be?”

Nicole grins at Wynonna. “Yeah, Earp. We do.”

Gus takes another sip of her hot chocolate, frowning with thought. “You said you had to adjust this recipe a bit?”

“Only the toppings. The mix should be what you normally do.”

“You kept my recipe?”

Nicole nods. “I do it every year on the holidays.”

Gus raises the mug again. “You did a good job.”

+++++

They hear the blaring sirens and Christmas music long before they realize what’s happening.

“Oh my god,” Wynonna and Waverly whisper at the same time. They pull on their coats, Wynonna taking a moment longer to help Alice into hers, and step outside.

The main fire truck of Purgatory is sitting in front of the inn, just past the fallen tree, fully decorated in lights and blasting a playlist of classic Christmas songs.

Standing on the step on the side of the door, in a bright red Santa sweater, a floppy Santa hat on his head, is Randy Nedley.

“Howdy,” he calls. “Heard you needed a lift into town.”

“Did you steal this from Juan Carlo?”

“Of course I didn’t _steal it_ , Wynonna. I borrowed it. He’s busy. Now, come on, we don’t have all day.”

Wynonna sets her hand on the top of Alice’s head. “Do you want to ride in the fire truck?”

Alice looks at her like she’s an idiot. _“Yes!”_

+++++

CJ sits in the back in Doc’s lap, happy as ever, and Nicole climbs into the passenger seat next to her father.

“How’s the plan going?” he asks in a murmur.

Nicole glances behind her at Gus, who is smiling as she watches Alice bounce around. “I don’t think she’s really caught on to what we’re doing yet. But that’s okay. The point is for it to feel normal.”

Nedley pats her knee. “Have I mentioned lately how proud I am of you?”

Nicole smirks. “You could stand to mention it more often.”

Nedley laughs as he steers the truck towards the main street. “You’re a good kid, Nicole. I’m _proud_ of you.”

The smirk on Nicole’s face fades a bit, her eyes turning serious. “That’s all I ever really wanted, you know. For you to be proud of me. I’m sorry if it ever wavered.”

“It didn’t. I don’t want you to ever worry about that, okay?” Nedley looks at her out of the corner of his eye. “And I don’t believe for one second that that’s _all_ you ever wanted.”

Nicole turns again, her gaze softening as she watches Waverly reach over and ruffle CJ’s fur. “No,” she whispers. “There’s one more.”


	15. let the christmas spirit ring

Nicole hears Alice’s squeal of delight the moment the main street comes into view.

“Jeez, Dad,” Nicole mumbles, staring at all the lights and decorations. “You’ve gotta still be cleaning up from the storm. How’d you pull all this off?”

“Robin and the rest of the boys from Doc’s ranch got everything secured early, then they came down here first thing. Xavier and Juan Carlo coordinated the timing between cleanup and decorating, and Mercedes Gardner was surprisingly helpful in keeping this all organized. All I had to do was make sure nobody was in a bad place from the storm and keep everybody safe while they got everything done.” Nedley grins. “We moved pretty damn well together for a sleepy little town. We _wanted_ to. For Gus. For what Curtis meant to us.”

“They all did? Every single one?”

“You were very convincing, Nic. You did a good job.”

The truck stops in the center of the street, and Nicole looks at the group seated behind her. “So. You guys ready?”

Gus stares at her, eyes wide. “What on Earth did you do, Nicole Haught?”

“Little this, little that.” Nicole hops out and opens the back door, holding out a hand to help Alice out. “There’s a lot to see, so I hope you’re prepared to be out in public in those sweaters.”

“I might hate you, just a little, Nicole,” Doc mutters, but there’s no bite to it as he follows Alice to the street, chuckling as she dances around in a nearby pile of snow.

Wynonna jumps down. “Can you clarify _‘a lot’_?”

Nicole reaches up to take Waverly’s hand and help her down. “Shorty’s is up and running. Pancake breakfast. From what I understand, he’s been practicing how to do Christmas shapes.”

She lets Waverly go long enough to lead Gus off of the truck, then rests her arms comfortably around Waverly’s waist. “Mercedes is leading an ugly sweater contest at city hall. She said that her siblings couldn’t enter, because they’d win just from the sheer aura of their personalities.

“Oh, and did you know Chrissy cooks? Because Chrissy cooks. She was adamant that they do a Hot Chocolate Derby at the same time, because she wants to enter and win.

“The high school is going to have its football field open this afternoon for a town wide snowball fight. Anyone who wants to attend is invited.

“There’s going to be a tree lighting right in front of the station tonight. Robin’s band is going to play some jazzy Christmas classics, and Santa will be there for the kids.”

Alice immediately starts bouncing. “Santa! _Santasantasantasantasantasantasanta-_ ”

She continues her excited chant as Wynonna closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. “God. Thanks, Nicole.”

Waverly, pressed tight against Nicole for warmth, looks up at her with glinting eyes. “You did _all_ of this? Not just the stuff at home?”

“With a lot of help,” Nicole replies, a nervous laugh in her voice. “Obviously I couldn’t exactly do much of it myself, but I called around. Thanks for that phone charger, by the way.” She lifts her gaze to meet the blank shock on Gus’s face. “I heard you. Talking to Waverly. I heard you say that you wished you could feel the holiday spirit even now that Curtis is gone. And I know that we could never, _ever_ replace what he gave you, or what he gave _everyone_ , but… maybe, at least for now, the people who love you can help fill in those gaps in your heart.”

_“-santasantasantasantasantasantasanta-“_

Wynonna claps a hand over Alice’s mouth and hisses, “ _Okay_ , kid,” staring between Gus and Nicole.

Gus looks around, at the snow, the decorations, the overwhelming colors of _Christmas_ in every visible spot of town. She takes a few steps towards Nicole, her expression unreadable. Then, tears falling on her cheeks, she pulls Nicole into a crushing hug.

“Thank you,” she whispers. _“Thank you.”_

“You don’t have to thank me for anything,” Nicole murmurs.

Gus squeezes her tighter, and, stuck between them, Waverly splutters. “I love both of you, and I’m very happy, but I can’t breathe,” she rasps.

Gus lets go, kissing Waverly on the head before taking a step back. “Well,” she says, clearing her throat and trying to pull back her tears. “I guess we should get going. We have places to see!”

As the others head off, Waverly lingers, holding Nicole back with her.

“What’s wrong?” Nicole asks softly, pushing a strand of hair off of Waverly’s face.

Waverly shakes her head. “Nothing. I just… I love you.”

Nicole grins and kisses her. “I love you, too.”

“Come on. Let’s go see what crazy thing this town put together based on your instructions.”

Waverly takes Nicole’s hand and pulls her after the rest of the group, but they both stop dead at the sound of a voice they both recognize.

“You have _got_ to be kidding me.”

“Willa,” Waverly whispers, before turning around and coming face to face with her oldest sister.

Willa Earp is standing on the street in a suit tailored precisely to her form, a long black expensive-looking coat hanging to her knees. Her arms are folded across her chest, and she’s wearing the same exact disappointed frown that she always had as a child.

“I was _so worried_ , Waverly,” she says, in a heavy, false voice. “I couldn’t get through to town because of the storm. I wanted to come home for Curtis’s funeral, because Black Badge had forbidden me, but when I found out that _she_ -” She shoots a glare at Nicole “-had come here, I just _knew_ that I had to hurry and get here as soon as I could. I was afraid that she would lie to you, that she’d make up stories to make you not trust me and to get herself into your good graces, and I…” She shakes her head, letting her eyes get misty. “God, Waverly, I hope I’m not too late.”

Nicole snorts and rolls her eyes. “You can cut the act, Willa. They already know that you have the land, because Bobo stole it for you. They already know that you deliberately pushed a wedge between me and Waverly so that he’d have an in to get me to work for him.”

Willa points directly into Nicole’s face and snarls, “See? This is _exactly_ what I was afraid of. This is why I _knew_ I had to come _right away_ when the roads were clear. You’re a poison, Haught. You always have been. You and Del Ray are trying to rip every last piece of my family apart, and I won’t let you do it.”

Waverly crosses her arms and sets her jaw. “Why are you here, Willa?”

Willa blinks at her. “I just _told_ you.”

“If you couldn’t get away from Black Badge to come to the funeral, how did you do it now?”

“I just did. Screw the consequences.”

“And you couldn’t have done that for _Curtis_? For our _family_? You were only motivated when Nicole was going to be here for, what, three days?”

Willa pouts at her. “Waverly,” she says, tone thick with condescension. “I know you haven’t seen me in a while. But I _know_ what these Black Badge people are like. You _don’t_. I had to choose to do what was best.”

“If you had done that, you would’ve been here from the start. And you wouldn’t have sent Nicole away all those years ago.”

“I did nothing of the sort.”

“I already know that it wasn’t Nicole. I have the emails. Emails _I_ didn’t send, and I _know_ it wasn’t Wynonna. Who else could it have been?”

Willa shrugs. “You were always hanging out with the other Nedley kid. It was probably her, covering for her rescue dog sister.”

Nicole tenses, but Waverly sets her fingers gently on one of Nicole’s wrists. “No. We all know that it wasn’t. So I’m going to ask you again. Why are you here, Willa?”

“She’s here because I invited her.” Wynonna joins them, her shoulders squared and her eyes narrow with anger.

“Wynonna, thank god,” Willa sighs. “I’ve been trying to reason with Waverly, but she’s caught up with this… this _monster_ again.”

“Let me stop you right there,” Wynonna says, grinning with too many teeth, like a shark. “I didn’t _actually_ invite you so that we could team up against Saint Nic here. I invited you to threaten you.”

Willa’s expression goes blank. “Excuse me.”

“Yeah, see, the more and more I’ve seen and heard of what’s really been going on here, the more I’ve seen Nicole act, the more I’ve come to understand and realize that you’re just a selfish bitch. All you’ve ever wanted was what was _supposed_ to belong to _all of us_ , so here’s how this is going to go: You can have it.”

Waverly and Nicole both look at her. _“What?”_

Wynonna shrugs. “Take the land. I don’t give a damn. I won’t fight you for it. I doubt Waverly will, either. I’ll even throw in my share of the money Daddy left us, _and_ my share of the money _Curtis_ left us.”

_“Wynonna,”_ Waverly hisses.

“You can have all of it. You can keep it for yourself or share it with… I don’t know, is Del Ray your boyfriend now? It’s weird, whatever it is. But my only stipulations are that we keep the inn, Nicole keeps what’s hers, and you let her go. All of it. No strings attached. _Free._ ”

Willa pauses, biting her lip and thinking. “Are you sure that’s a _fair_ trade?”

“You can have my share of what Daddy left us, too,” Waverly blurts out.

Nicole shrugs. “And I’ll finish out the season with Black Badge, keeping the fifty percent salary deal.”

Willa is silent for another moment, then she takes out her phone and walks away with it up to her ear.

“This is a terrible idea,” Waverly whispers. “This is an _awful_ idea. Do you both realize that?”

“Yes,” Nicole and Wynonna say at the same time.

Willa returns with a smirk on her face. “You swear that every part that you said you’ll give me is what you’ll give, just for that trashy inn and to get Haught here out of some stupid deal?”

Wynonna nods. “Yes.”

“Then it’s settled. Expect paperwork to arr-”

“No no no.” Waverly holds up a hand. _“We’ll_ have someone draw up the proper paperwork. There’s no way in hell we’re trusting _your people_ to do it.”

Willa snorts. “Whatever.” She glances around. “Anything that gets me out of this town.” She turns and walks away, not even bothering to say goodbye.

“Yeah, it was nice seeing you too,” Wynonna calls after her. She shakes her head and mutters, “Jerk. And other, worse words.”

“Motherhood has changed you,” Waverly jokes.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Waverly leans into Nicole’s side. “You okay?”

“I think so. I’ll be better once I know it worked.”

“I guess we can’t really know that until you go back to Black Badge?”

Nicole nods. “Yeah. But that’s not a problem for right now.” She picks Waverly up and spins her a bit until she giggles. _“Right now_ is for Christmas parties with our family and friends.” She presses a kiss to Waverly’s cheek. “The rest will come in time.”


	16. sarajevo

_** ONE YEAR LATER ** _

“WAKE UP AUNT WAVERLY IT’S CHRISTMAS!”

Waverly lets out a sharp grunt of pain as Alice slams into her, full speed, sprinting into her room with the force of a tiny hurricane. “Hi,” she groans. “G’mornin’. Mer’ C’ris’m’s.”

Alice hits her in the face with a pillow. “Wake _up!”_

Waverly groans again and holds the pillow in place over her face. “Please tell me there’s coffee.”

“Gramma’s making hot chocolate and cookies!” Alice pushes at her shoulder. “Now _c’mon!”_

Waverly lifts the pillow up and squints at her. “Was Santa here?”

Alice nods quickly.

“What time is it?”

“Five.”

“Good god.” Waverly sighs and slumps against her bed. “Alright. Alright. If your parents are up, I’m getting up.”

“Yay!” Alice leaps off of the bed and runs out of the room. _“Christmas!”_

+++++

Alice is still tumbling around, trying to pick up discarded wrapping paper, as Waverly meets her sister in the kitchen for coffee refills.

“Remember having energy like that?” Waverly asks.

Wynonna glances towards the welcome room and shakes her head. “No.” She takes the coffee pot from Waverly. “You going to get one of those? Maybe I can pawn some of the energy off on a cousin.”

Waverly laughs. “If I do, it won’t be any time soon.”

“Nicole still being stupid?”

“She’s not _stupid_ ,” Waverly protests, smacking Wynonna’s arm. “She’s just got things she needs to tie up in the city before she can come back here. She stopped working at Black Badge in the spring, but she still had a whole life out there. Commitments.”

“And then what happens when she does eventually come back?”

“I… I don’t know yet. We haven’t talked about it. I mean, we’ve tossed around the idea of living together. I _think_ we’re on the same page on most ideas. The future has always just seemed so… far away.”

“Mm.” Wynonna sets the coffee pot down. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Waverly. But you’ve blown a lot of years of your life on Nicole Haught. If you don’t think she’s in this for keeps, maybe… maybe you shouldn’t sit around waiting for her?”

Waverly shakes her head. “She’s in this with me, Wynonna. We promised we’d take and get to know each other the way we are now, and we _have_. This part is just the patience. I can handle that.”

Wynonna pats her arm. “Alright. Just don’t get hurt, okay? For _both_ your sakes. Willa and Black Badge took enough from all of us. They don’t need to get the rest of your lives because you can’t accept the need to move on. Are you committed to making this thing with Nicole work?”

“Of course I am.”

“Okay then.” Wynonna shrugs. “That’s what I needed to know. Just don’t let her pull you along for so long that I can’t let things lie, got it?”

Waverly chuckles softly. “Got it.”

+++++

Waverly stands on the sidewalk outside of the bed and breakfast, bouncing back and forth from one foot to the other, shivering. She takes out her phone and dials, pressing it to her ear.

_“Hey, baby.”_

“Nic. Merry Christmas.”

_“Merry Christmas to you, too.”_

“Did you get my present?”

_“Absolutely. The boots are awesome, I love the new shirts, and CJ adores the stuffed tiger.”_

Waverly grins. “I’m glad.”

_“I’m sorry your stuff got delayed in the mail, baby. It’ll get there soon. I promise.”_

“It’s okay, Nicole. That’s not your fault.” Waverly hesitates. “I-I just… I just wish I could see you.”

_“I know, baby. Maybe we can video chat later? It’s not the same, but it’ll at least be better than just a phone call.”_

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll wear something really nice for you.” Waverly lowers her voice as a car approaches. “Or maybe nothing at all.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. _“I think you might have just killed me.”_

“That’s not going to do you any good.”

_“No. No, it won’t.”_

Waverly waves at the car as it stops in front of her. “Okay. Well, I’m going out with Chrissy for a bit. Some Christmas shenanigans of some sort that she was invited to and needed a plus one.”

_“Wow, Waverly, I miss one Christmas and you replace me with my sister. I’m hurt.”_

“Do something about it, then,” Waverly taunts, doing her best to keep her voice playfully, even if she wants the words to be genuine.

_“Don’t tempt me.”_ Nicole sighs softly. _“Have fun, baby. I’ll talk to you later?”_

“Absolutely. I love you.”

_“I love you, too.”_

Waverly gets into the car. “Sorry. I was talking to Nicole.”

Chrissy snorts. “I’m surprised you were able to get off the phone. How is my prodigal sister? She talked to me and Dad this morning, wished us a merry Christmas, but I don’t know much about how _you guys_ are doing.”

“We’re pretty good. At least, I think we are. Nic has been pretty secretive about whatever business she has to take care of in the city, but honestly, I think she’s just a bit embarrassed or nervous about it.”

She misses the faint smirk on Chrissy’s lips. “You don’t say? Why would she be embarrassed?”

“She was planning on being done with that whole thing as soon as her time with Bobo was up. Having to stay there longer, possibly because of some other contracts like an apartment or something? I feel like she’d rather just give me vague answers than admit that she can manage a deal with scum like Bobo Del Ray, but can’t get out of a lease.”

“In fairness, _Wynonna_ fixed that deal.”

Waverly pauses. “You know, that’s a good point.”

Chrissy turns down a street leading down into the woods. “This is a bit of an off-the-grid party. Hope you don’t mind. My dad is too paranoid to let me go to one of these things alone.”

Waverly raises her eyebrow. “Can you blame him?”

“It’s pretty peaceful back here. This is actually one of the ways to get to Wolf Lake, the one that’s next to Beaver Lake? It’s just that few people usually come via this route.”

“How do you know about it?”

“Sheriff’s daughter,” Chrissy says casually.

They follow the road, a winding path, until Chrissy turns off of it down a long dirt driveway.

“Are you taking me out here to kill me?” Waverly jokes.

“No, but it’s possible that you’ll kill me.” Chrissy glances over at her and grins.

“Why would I-” Waverly breaks off as her jaw drops.

The driveway ends at a small, beautiful wood cabin just the right distance away from the edge of the lake. There’s smoke billowing out of two brick fireplaces, a neat stack of firewood in front of the porch, and a black SUV parked next to an ATV.

A dog Waverly recognizes immediately is laying on the top step of the porch, and his ears perk straight up at their approach. As the car stops, he launches himself onto the yard, barking, and the sound summons the cabin’s occupant out to the porch.

“Well, go on, Earp,” Chrissy says, sounding just a bit smug. “Get out of my car.”

“You… You set me up,” Waverly stammers.

“Yeah. We set you up _real bad_.” Chrissy leans over and kisses her roughly on the cheek. “Go. _Go!_ I really do have a party to go to; you’re just not invited.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “You have a _party for two._ ”

Waverly squints at her. “That’s your sister.”

Chrissy immediately frowns. “Right. Ew. Make good choices. One foot between you at all times. Leave space for Jesus.”

Waverly snorts loudly. “Yeah, no, that’s not going to happen.”

“Girl can dream. I don’t want to think about you getting my big sister out of her pants, thanks.”

“You started it.”

“Yeah, well I-”

They both squeak and jump as Nicole taps on the glass of Chrissy’s window.

“Hey,” she says, loud enough for them to hear. “I kind of had this whole greeting planned out, so if you guys could maybe bicker later?”

“I love you, thank you, Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, you owe me,” Chrissy replies with a laugh, watching Waverly scramble out.

Waverly meets Nicole in front of the car and drags her into a heated kiss before she can even say hello. By the time they separate, Chrissy’s taillights are already disappearing down the driveway.

“Hi,” Waverly whispers.

Nicole grins. “Well. Hi to you, too.”

“How did you get here?”

“Drove a car.”

Waverly glares at her.

“I finished up the stuff I needed to do last week. Stayed at a hotel for a bit. Was home last night for Christmas with my dad and sister. Then came out here to get some things prepared before Chrissy got you to me.” Nicole smirks. “Your presents aren’t arriving late. They’re inside.”

“You’re going to be in _big_ trouble over being able to come home a week ago and not telling me. But that’s going to be _after_ I enjoy the fact that you’re _here_.” Waverly looks around. “What _is_ ‘here’?”

“This is mine,” Nicole says quietly.

“What?”

“I used part of the insurance money I had from the accident my parents and I were in. It’s one of the things Bobo was using as collateral on me, but since Wynonna included a clause that I got to keep whatever was rightfully mine, I got to keep this house.” She looks up at it, her eyes soft. “A part of me… I just always wanted a place that was _all mine_. I love my dad, and I love spending time at the inn, but I wanted somewhere I could go where I could just have my space. And then, after a while, I wanted it to be _our_ space.”

Waverly blinks. “You thought of me?”

“I’m always thinking of you.” Nicole takes a step back, shaking her head. “I’m doing this all wrong. My plan’s gone awry. I was supposed to show you around, and show you the whole place, and then give you your presents, and then take you over to Beaver Lake to ice skate, and then ask you there. But the moment I saw you, every meticulous part of it vanished from my brain. I can’t wait.” She lifts Waverly’s hand and presses a kiss to her knuckles. “If you’ll have me, Waverly, I want you to live here. With me. We’re not ready for marriage, not yet, but I want us to start building our lives together until we are. I’d like it, if you’d be happy, if we could start here. Us and our dog and our cabin. Town isn’t too far away, and the inn is the first place you get to on the way there. I-I know it might be asking a lot, Waverly, coming back after all this time of nothing but phone calls, and expecting you to just-”

Waverly interrupts her with a short, sharp kiss. She lets her hands linger, one stroking the back of Nicole’s neck, one stroking her cheek. “If you’d let me get a word in,” she laughs softly, “you wouldn’t need to worry so much.”

Nicole gives a quiet, anxious laugh. “No?”

“No. I would _gladly_ live with you, Nicole. And if this place is anything close to as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, I would be a fool to turn it down.”

“It’ll look better once you’ve put your touch on it.”

“Charmer.”

Nicole rests her forehead against Waverly’s, taking in a slow breath. “So… yes? You want to?”

“I do, Nicole Haught.” She pokes Nicole hard in the shoulder. “But we are _definitely_ going ice skating _this week_ , because you aren’t getting out of it just because you got too excited and flustered to wait.”

“Oh, absolutely. That’s one of your Christmas presents; I wasn’t going to forget.”

“It’s just not going to be _right now_ ,” Waverly says, crouching down to pay attention to CJ. “Especially because I need to unwrap my gift.”

“They won’t be very exciting comparatively.”

“Don’t be silly. It’ll be very exciting.” Waverly glances up at Nicole. “The gift _I’m_ talking about is _you_.”

Nicole audibly swallows. “Okay,” she says dumbly.

Waverly frowns slightly, playing tug with CJ and a stick. “Nic… Did you get a new jacket?”

Nicole turns bright red and pulls at the collar of the Purgatory Sheriff’s Department jacket she’s wearing. “Oh… uh… this thing? W-Why would you… suggest that?”

Waverly lets go of the stick and stands up slowly. “Nicole Haught. You aren’t allowed to keep _any more secrets_ from me. Now _spill_.”

“Uh… so… that business… I had to do in the city…”

“Yes…?”

Nicole clears her throat and sticks her hands into her pockets, flushing even redder. “I was actually going to the police academy there.”

Waverly stares blankly at her. “What.”

“My dad hired me while I was still in town last year.”

“What.”

“It was going to be another one of those surprises that I opened with. Y’know, since I kind of need a job to move back here and help support our cool new house and living arrangement.”

_“What.”_

Nicole swallows again. “Uhm. I’m going to be a cop in Purgatory. I was only going to hold off on that info until later because you… are very attractive.”

Waverly reaches forward and grips the front of the jacket, and she starts slowly pushing Nicole backwards towards the cabin. “You’re still in trouble for being done early and not telling me. And you’re _also_ in trouble for _not telling me_ that you were staying in the city because you were training for a job that would allow you to come home.”

“But?” Nicole prompts, walking backwards up the stairs and opening the front door without looking, letting CJ into the house before allowing Waverly to push her inside.

“But god, Nicole Haught, I _love you so much right now_ , and I need you to tell me where _our_ bedroom is.”

“Down the hall, last door on the left.”

“Because this is _our house_ , and _damn_ if I’m not going to celebrate that on Christmas properly.”

They get into the bedroom and Nicole suddenly takes control, grabbing Waverly and tackling her onto the bed. Waverly gasps and giggles, fighting back, until Nicole pins her down.

“Maybe, just for today, we should pretend this isn’t _our_ house,” Nicole murmurs, trailing kisses up Waverly’s throat.

“Why?” Waverly sighs.

“Because if we do, then this can be our last Christmas _technically_ apart.” Nicole looks down at Waverly, eyes glowing in the flickering light of their own fireplace in their bedroom. “And oh, Waverly Earp. It’ll be one you remember.”


End file.
